A Federal High Court in Ilorin, Kwara State, set a bail condition of N50 million for the former governor of the state, Abdulfatah Ahmed, who pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of alleged mismanagement of public funds totaling N10 billion,Punch reports.
Ahmed was arraigned by the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Evelyn Anyadike of the Federal High Court in Ilorin on Friday. He had been in EFCC custody since being invited for questioning on Monday.
One of the charges against Ahmed involves the alleged use of N1,610,730,500.00 designated for the security and operational expenses of the Kwara State Government to charter private jets for local travel through Travel Messengers Limited during his tenure as governor from 2015 to 2019. Another charge relates to the conversion of N411 million intended for state security between January and December 2018.
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Ademola Banu, former Kwara state Commissioner of Finance, was named as the second defendant. He faces a 10-count charge related to the alleged mismanagement of public funds during Ahmed’s administration.
During the court proceedings, EFCC’s lead counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, informed the court that Banu had breached an administrative bail granted by the EFCC and requested the court to issue a summons against his surety or a warrant of arrest against Banu himself. The defence counsel, led by Kehinde Eleja, SAN, did not present any defense for Banu.
Justice Anyadike granted Ahmed bail in the sum of N50 million with two sureties in like sum. The sureties were required to deposit their passports with the court registrar, and one of them must possess a landed property in Ilorin with the title documents deposited with the Registrar of the Federal High Court.
The judge ordered Ahmed to be remanded in EFCC custody until his bail conditions were met, and scheduled the trial to commence on April 29th and 30th, 2024.
