Femi Fani-KayodeAfter 57 days in detention, since he reported to the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on May 9 at 9.45 a.m., Nigeria’s fiery critic, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, was granted bail on Monday. Many believe he may storm the Internet with rage to denounce a witch-hunt by the President Muhammadu Buhari Federal Government.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on May 9 detained the former Minister of Aviation and former director in the Presidential Campaign Organisation of the People’s Democratic Party for the 2015 general elections for allegedly receiving N840 million from the party’s campaign funds.
Mr. Fani-Kayode was accused of receiving the said amount from the Director of Finance of the campaign organisation of the PDP, Senator Nenadi Usman, during the build-up to the 2015 elections, which the Peoples Democratic Party lost to the All Progressives Congress.
Mrs. Nenadi Usman was also arrested by the EFCC and was granted bail on Monday along with Mr. Fani-Kayode.
The money was said to have emanated from the account of the National Security Adviser, which is domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria. The government has said that money was meant to buy weapons for the military fighting Boko Haram in the country’s northeast but was diverted for political and personal use.
But Mr. Fani-Kayode had maintained that the PDP leadership assured him that the money was sourced from private individuals.
“I served as the director of publicity of the Jonathan campaign organisation and I was told to set up an account for the directorate, which I did. I never received money from the CBN, but like all the other directors, we received money from the director of finance,” he said before his detention.
“I was assured that the funds were not public funds but were sourced from private individuals. I never knowingly spent government money all through. The money was spent specifically on the campaigns. The accounts were audited and we were commended by the President.”
On Monday, Justice M. S. Hassan of the Federal High Court in Lagos granted bail to Nenadi Esther Usman and Femi Fani-Kayode, both former ministers and directors in the Presidential Campaign Organisation of the People’s Democratic Party for the 2015 general election.
Also admitted to bail is Danjuma Yusuf, the third accused in the 17- count charge that borders on conspiracy, stealing, corruption and making cash payments exceeding the amount authorised by law preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The defendants in all alongside Jointrust Dimensions Nigeria Limited are alleged to have diverted about N4.9 billion belonging to the Federal Government of Nigeria for political and personal use.
They have all pleaded not guilty to the criminal information brought against them by the EFCC when they were arraigned on June 28, 2016.
Ruling on their bail applications, Justice Hassan granted the defendants bail in the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty Million Naira each with two sureties in like sum.
The sureties must have landed property within the jurisdiction of the court and deposit their Title Documents with the Chief Registrar of the court. The Title Documents shall be verified by the EFCC within seven days. The sureties shall also file affidavit of means and deposit their International passport with the court.
The case is adjourned to October 19, 20 and 21, 2016 for trial.