Court Grants el-Rufai Bail in Corruption Case


By Gowon Emakpe
April 8, 2011 08:45AM

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday re-arraigned former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nasir el-Rufai, before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of fraudulent allocation of land and abuse of office during his tenure as minister.

The court however granted him bail in self-recognition.

The Court had recently ruled that an application by Mr. el-Rufai, seeking to stop his arraignment by the Commission, lacked merit and that he should make himself available for trial.

The trial judge, Sadiq Umar ruling on a preliminary objection by Akin Olujimi, lawyer to Mr el-Rufai, said the trial of the former minister should go ahead.

Mr. Olujimi, in the preliminary objections, argued that the charges levelled against his client had no legal bases, having been filed under a repealed law, the ICPC Act 2003. He said under the repealed law, the FCT High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter and urged the court to quash the charges and discharge the accused persons.

But Justice Umar held that the EFCC had filed fresh charges based on the ICPC Act of 2000, and held that under the Act, the EFCC had the powers to amend the charges against an accused before judgment is delivered.

“In this case, the accused have yet to be arraigned to take their plea, so the court can grant the EFCC leave to amend the charge as contained in the provisions of the ICPC Act 2000,” he said.

The judge also held that the EFCC, under provisions of section 46 of the act setting it up, has the responsibility to investigate all economic and financial crimes in the country.

A Federal High Court in Abuja had, last year, thrown out the suit filed against the former minister on the same issue. The presiding judge, Adamu Bello, ruled that the charges had no legal basis, having been filed under the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Act of 2000, a law that has since been repealed.

The judge quashed the charges and discharged El Rufai.

The Federal Government however responded to the dismissal of the charges by filing fresh charges at the Abuja High Court. Mr El-Rufai and two others were accused by the EFCC of illegally allocating land in the FCT to friends and relatives, some of whom included: Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, the daughter of former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

The other accused persons are Altine Jubrin, former director general of the Abuja Geographical Information System, and Ismail Iro, former general manager of the agency. All three men pleaded not guilty.

Liberal bail condition

At yesterday’s sitting, Mr Umar granted bail to El Rufai in self-recognition after the former minister pleaded not guilty to the eight count charge, saying that given El Rufai’s past service as a minister and his compliance with the bail conditions previously imposed by the EFCC and the Federal High Court, the court decided to exercise its discretion by granting him bail in self-recognition.

He adjourned the matter till May 17, 2011.

El Rufai and two others were arraigned on charges relating to the allocation of plots of land in the federal capital. After the pleas were taken, Mr Olujimi moved the application for bail, urging the court to grant it in very liberal terms.

But counsel to the EFCC did not oppose the application, citing the antecedents of the case and the compliance of the accused persons to previous bail conditions.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/5688078-147/story.csp