The Federal High Court in Kaduna, Thursday, remanded Alhaji Ramalan Yero, the former governor of the state, and three others in prison custody, pending the determination of their appeal for bail next week.
Yero was charged alongside the former chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state, Abubakar Gaya-Haruna, former Secretary to the State Government, Hamza Ishaq and former Minister of Power, Nuhu Somo Wya.
While Yero was arraigned on a three-count charge bordering on Conspiracy to commit crime to wit directly taken possession of N700 million contrary to section 18(a) of the money laundering act; directly taken possession of N700 million contrary section 18(d); cash transaction without passing through a financial institution, the other defendants were arraigned on an additional charge of cash payment without passing through a financial institution.
They pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Counsel to EFCC, Joshua Saidi said, “In view of the plea of the defendant, we ask for a date to commence trial. We urge his Lordship to remand them in prison.”
But counsel to the ex-governor, Yunus Ustaz, SAN, made an oral application for bail for the accused.
“We apply that in the interest of justice and presumption of innocence, the accused be granted bail. Your lordship has absolute discretion to grant bail.
”The Administration of the Criminal Justice Act allows that you grant bail without formal application. The first defendant is not somebody to jump bail.
”We pray that the accused be remanded in EFCC custody, pending the determination of the bail application because of what some of us had gone through in Nigerian prison,” he said.
Counsel to EFCC, however, objected to the prayers, saying “we don’t have the facility to keep the accused.”
Justice Mohammed Shuaibu, who presided, noted that though the Criminal Justice Administration Act gave him the latitude to grant bail on oral application, a formal application must be brought before him as a matter of procedure.
He ruled that the accused be kept in prison custody, pending when the application for bail will be argued on June 6, 2019.
Yero and the three accused persons arrived at the court premises in a bus owned by the EFCC at about 8:57 am, accompanied by a detachment of policemen in a Hilux van and were ushered straight into the court room.
While the proceedings were going on in the court, scores of placard carrying supporters of the former governor massed outside the court premises chanting solidarity songs.
