Politics
N6.3bn FRAUD: Ex-Gov Jang to remain in prison
Hope of former Governor of Plateau State, Senator Jonah Jang, of securing bail a week after he was arrested and detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was on Monday shattered.
Both the EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) failed to arraign the senator and a cashier, during his administration as governor of Plateau, Yusuf Gyang Pam, before Justice Daniel Longji of the Plateau State High Court in Jos.
While the EFCC had blamed logistics on its failure to produce the accused persons in court, the court clerk explained that he called the ICPC on phone thrice but got no response.
The clerk had told the judge, “I called the ICPC three times, but they didn’t pick their calls.”
After ordering the clerk to call the ICPC again, Justice Longji adjourned the matter till Wednesday for the arraignment of the accused persons and hearing of their applications for bail.
Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), had moved an application for the case to be adjourned till Wednesday, noting that if he had known that the accused persons would not be produced in court that he would not have traveled all the way from Lagos to Plateau.
He said, “My Lord, I called my clients and they said they had a problem with logistics. I had the impression that the defendants will be produced today. I therefore urge Your Lordship to grant the application and give us Wednesday to produce the defendants.”
READ ALSO: Nigeria in full-fledged dictatorship under Buhari —Fayose
In his response, the defence lawyer, Robert Clarke (SAN), said that the EFCC application for adjournment was “shocking”, regretting that after he travelled from Lagos to Jos, all he was to be told was that the accused persons could not be arraigned before the court.
“I’m shocked to come here and be told that an accused, who has been held since last Monday, will still be locked up; this is unfair.
“My Lord, out of the three arms of government, the judiciary is the most trampled upon,” Clarke lamented.
RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears
Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...