N27bn fraud: Court remands Taraba ex-gov Ishaku, perm sec

A Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, Abuja, on Monday, remanded the former governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku, and former Permanent Secretary of Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Bello Yero, in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The duo were arrested on September 27, for allegedly diverting N27bn belonging to the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

In the suit marked CR/792/24, filed before a Federal Capital Territory High Court, the EFCC accused the defendants of diverting the sum of N1,010,000,000 to their personal use between August 25, 2015 and March 21, 2016, in Abuja.

The agency said the amount formed part of the 2.5% contingency funds belonging to the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

The EFCC noted that the duo committed an offence contrary to Section 315 of the Penal Code A, Cap 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria 2007, and punishable under the same section.

Other sums that allegedly formed part of the contingency fund diverted by the defendants include N650,686,369.99 between January 6, 2019, and April 29, 2021; N193,030,000 between January 2019, and April 29, 2021; and N170,549,842.00 between January 6, 2019, and April 29, 2021, among others.

Upon their arraignment, the defendants, according to a statement by the EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said they pleaded not guilty to the offenses preferred against them by the commission.

Oyewale said the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, asked the court for a trial date as well as an accelerated hearing of the matter.

He added that Paul Haris Ogbole, SAN, and Oluwa Damilola Kayode, counsel for Ishaku and Yero respectively made oral bail applications, which Jacobs opposed, insisting on formal applications.

Oyewale said the trial judge adjourned the matter till Thursday, October 3, for hearing on bail applications and ordered that the defendants be remanded in EFCC’s custody.