A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has threatened to revoke the bail issued former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode.
The judge also fined him N200000 for failing to honour court summons over an alleged N4.6 billion fraud.
Justice Daniel Osiagor gave the order on Wednesday, 13th of October. He said he found several letters from the former Minister demanding adjournments on same medical grounds.
Fani-Kayode was ordered to pay the fine or risk having his bail revoked.
Charged along with the former PDP chieftain who recently defected to the APC on a 17-count of laundering N4.6 billion are:
- Former Finance Minister, Nenadi Esther Usman
- Former Chairman of Algon, Danjuma Yusuf
- A limited liability company, Jointrust Dimentions Nigeria Limited.
All suspects are being arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the 17-count charge.
The accused were first arrainged before Justice Mohammed Aikawa but subsequently assigned to Osaigor and scheduled for re-arraignment on Wednesday, October 13.
When the case was called on Wednesday, Mr I J Ogechukwu appeared for the 1st defendant (Usman), Mr B F Ajudua appeared fo the 2nd defendant (Fani-Kayode) and Y Olabode appeared for the 3rd and 4th defendants.
The prosecutor, Mrs Biliksu Buhari informed the court that the matter was to start afresh, but Fani-Kayode who was the second defendant was not in court to take his plea. The prosecutor therefore urged the court to revoke his bail.
Buhari informed the court that the July 15 prosecution asked the court to adjourn the matter for re-arraignment of the defendants. She told the court that on October 11, prosecution received a letter from the 2nd defendant informing them that he had been given a bed rest.
Buhari told the court that letters by the defendant had become numerous and it was all written to avoid oattending court sittings.
Fani-Kayode’s counsel, F B Ajudua however, pleaded with the court not to revoke his bail saying that a letter had been written on behalf of his client who he claimed is currently on ‘bed rest’ at the Kubwa General Hospital, Abuja.
Ajudua also informed the court that his client has been readily attending his trial since the matter commenced in 2016. He apologised for Fani Kayode’s absence, prayed the court not to revoke his bail and also asked for a short adjournment.
However, upon perusing the court’s records, the judge discovered that the former Minister has been in court for 5 times already.
He said that the development stalled the smooth hiring of the charge.
The judge them mentioned the dates the letters were written as:
- February 1 2018
- May 30, 2019
- November 24, 2020
- March 21, 2021;
- and October 9, 2021
Justice Osaigor therefore gave 2 options of either to revoke the bail or a fine of N200000 and his counsel opted for the fine.
The matter has been adjourned till November 30 while the fine must be paid before the next court sitting.
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N4.6 Billion Fraud: Court Fines Fani-Kayode N200000, Threatens to Revoke Bail