BEVERLY HILLS, November 17, (THEWILL) – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Thursday, re-arraigned a former Governor of Niger State, Babaginda Aliyu, for an alleged fraud of N2bn..
Aliyu was arraigned alongside a former Niger State Chief of Staff, Umar Nasko, before the Federal High Court in Minna, on eight charges bordering on money laundering.
Aliyu and Nasko were accused of laundering ecological funds released by the Federal Government to Niger State sometime in 2014 in the case which was initially before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court before it was transferred to Niger.
The EFCC, in the charge sheet, claimed that Aliyu and Nasko slashed the various tranches of the ecological funds released to the Niger State Government by the Federal Government.
It alleged that Aliyu and Nasko, on one occasion, conspired between themselves and removed the sum of N210m from a sum of N233m released by the Federal Government to Niger State as ecological funds.
On other occasions, they allegedly removed N250m out of N253m; N230m out of N243m; N110m out of N116m; N184m out of N487m; N478m out of N487m and another N487m out of N487m.
The EFCC said Aliyu and Nasko acted contrary to Section 18 (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) and were liable to be punished by Section 15 (3) of the same Act.
But the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges and were admitted to N250m bail each with two sureties in like sum by the presiding Judge, Justice Yalim Bogoro.
Bogoro said the sureties must be resident within the court’s jurisdiction and must be civil servants not below the rank of a director and adjourned till January 21, 2018 for commencement of trial.
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