By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
Two Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains in Ondo State charged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over N500 million fraud were on Thursday granted bail by Justice Muslim Sule Hassan of a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos Nigeria.
The duo are the State chairman of the Party, Clement Faboyede, and Modupe Adetokunbo, the Director General of State PDP Campaign Organisation during the 2015 general elections.
The defendants were dragged before the court by the anti-graft agency for allegation of fraud to the tune of N500 million and they had pleaded not guilty to the three counts charge preferred against them.
Ruling on the bail application filed by the defendants through their counsel, Justice Hassan held that in granting bail, the factors to be considered in deciding the bail application include the nature of the charge, the severity of the punishment and the likelihood of the repetition of the offence.
The judge said: “The sole issue for determination is whether or not the defendants are entitled to bail pending trial, bearing in mind that the essence of bail is to ensure the attendance of the defendants for their trial.
“The defendants were arraigned before this court on a three-count charge of conspiracy and money laundering.
“According to the provisions of the Money Laundering Act, the punishment for the offence is a jail term not less than two years or an option of fine.
“I am in agreement with the defence lawyer that the alleged offence is bailable.
“The prosecution cannot oppose bail merely on routine procedure. There must be a cogent reason for opposing bail.
“The allegations against the defendants remain mere allegations until it is decided one way or the other by the court.
“In arriving at the decision whether to grant or refuse bail, it is my duty as a judicial officer to balance the interests of the state, defendants and that of the general public in coming to a judicious conclusion.
“In doing this, I am of the view that the judicious discretion in the circumstance of this case is to grant bail to the defendants/ applicants.
“More so, the defendants/ applicants were earlier granted bail by the prosecution prior to their arraignment and there was no evidence to show that they jumped the bail.
“Having regard to the foregoing, the defendants/applicants application for bail succeeds and bail is hereby granted.”
Consequently, the judge admitted the duo to bail in the sum of N50 million each with one surety each in like sum.
The judge further ordered that the sureties, must either be federal or state civil servants, not below the rank of level 15 or landed property owners within the court’s jurisdiction.
Justice Hassan also directed the sureties to deposit the title documents of the property and two passport size photographs each at the court’s registry and same must be verified by the Department’s Head.
Furthermore, he ordered the defendants to deposit their international passport at the court’s registry while the prosecution was given a week to authenticate the documents submitted by the sureties.
The matter has been adjourned until September 17, 2018 for commencement of trial.