A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the remand of two staff members of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) in Kuje Correctional Centre over an alleged N1.853 billion fraud.
Gatekeepers News reports that the presiding judge, Emeka Nwite ordered that Umar Laraye and Emmanuel Titus be remanded pending the determination of their bail application.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) charged Laraye and Titus to court for allegedly defrauding the REA of N165 million and N261 million respectively under false presence of project supervision.
Also charged to court, alongside with the two suspects are two other REA officials for alleged N1.85 billion fraud.
Usman Kwakwa, a staff of REA, was on June 6, arraigned for allegedly stealing N298 million through the agency’s payment platform.
Laraye, Titus and Henrientta Okojie, another staff didn’t show up in court, hence the judge issued a bench warrant for their arrest after the prosecutor, Osuobeni Akponimisingha moved an oral application.
Then, the judge ordered ICPC to produce Laraye and Titus in court on June 13., while Okojie’s case was fixed for June 14.
On the said June 14, the prosecutor asked that the June 6 bench warrant be against Laraye and Titus be dismissed since the defendants were in court, the judge then granted the request.
The efendants pleaded not guilty to the four count charges read to them respectively and Akponimisingha applied for a trial date.
But the defendant’s attorney, Idoko Alhassan told the court he already filed bail applications for his clients.
Akponimisingha, however replied by saying that he was yet to receive copies of the bail application.
The judge later adjourned the case to June 20, saying that the prosecution still has time to file a response to the bail applications.
Recall that in March, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the indefinite suspension of the managing director of REA, Ahmad Salihijo Ahmad and three other executive directors of the agency.
The suspension followed findings obtained during a detailed investigation into the financial activities of the agency.
Ahmad’s name, however did not appear in any of the charges filed by the ICPC and he hasn’t been called back from suspension yet.
