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Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku
A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja, on Thursday, barred a former governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku, from travelling out of the country pending the conclusion of his ongoing N27bn fraud trial.
Justice Sylvanus Oriji imposed the travel restriction as part of the conditions attached to the bail granted to the ex-governor alongside his co-defendant, Bello Yero.
The judge granted Ishaku N150m bail with two sureties in like sum.
He said both sureties must be residents in Abuja while one must be a director in the Federal Government’s employment.
Counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), did not oppose the bail application, noting that Ishaku had been of good behaviour and he did not jump the administrative bail earlier granted him by the anti-graft agency.
The judge adjourned till November 4, 5 and 13 for commencement of trial.
Ishaku, who left office in 2023 after serving as governor for eight years, is facing 15 counts bordering on money laundering.
In the charge marked CR/792/24, Ishaku and Yero, a former Permanent Secretary of the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, were accused of conniving to divert N1,010,000,000 to their personal use between August 25, 2015 and March 21, 2016.
The agency said the amount formed part of the 2.5 per cent contingency funds belonging to the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
Ishaku and Yero were also accused of diverting an aggregate sum of N1,138,082, 097.71 which formed part of the 2.5 per cent contingency fund belonging to the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs between July 2015 and May 2019.
Also, between September 3, 2015, and January 29, 2018, in Abuja, the defendants were accused of diverting the sum of N761,301,000 to defray the loan of N1bn granted by Zenith Bank Plc “to your company, Worthy Construction Limited.”
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.
However, upon their arraignment, Ishaku and Yero pleaded not guilty to the charges.
