The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday re-arraigned a former minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, on a 17-count charge bordering on conspiracy, unlawful retention of proceeds of theft and money laundering to the tune of N4.9bn.
He was re-arraigned before a new judge, Justice Rilwan Aikawa, after he objected to being tried before Justice Muslim Hassan of the same court before whom he was earlier arraigned on June 28, 2016.
Fani-Kayode, who was the Director of Publicity of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential campaign organisation for the 2015 election, was re-arraigned alongside a former Minister of State for Finance, Senator Nenadi Usman.
The two ex-ministers were accused of conspiring with the Also listed as defendant in the charge are one Danjuma Yusuf and a company, Joint Trust Dimensions Limited to, directly and indirectly, retain various sums, which the EFCC claimed they ought to have reasonably known were proceeds of crime.
In one of the counts, the defendants were accused of conspiring among themselves to “indirectly retain the sum of N1,500, 000,000.00 which sum you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful act to wit: stealing”.
According to the anti-graft agency, the four were also accused of indirectly retaining N300m, N400m and N800m, all proceeds of corruption. The EFCC added that they allegedly committed the offence between January 8 and March 25, 2015, ahead of the 2015 general elections.
But the defendants, who had earlier pleaded not guilty before Justice Hassan, restated before the new judge on Monday that they were not guilty.
Following a plea by Usman’s lawyer, Mr. Abiodun Owonikoko SAN, Justice Aikawa allowed them to continue on the bail earlier granted them by Justice Hassan.
The matter was then adjourned till the 6th and 9th of next month for the commencement of trial and for the judge to rule on the defence’s request for the matter to be taken to Abuja.