Justice Obiora Egwuatu, who granted Ojerinde’s prayer after
taking the arguments of counsel to the parties in the matter, said one of the
sureties must be a professor in a federal university.
Egwuatu ruled that the professor must provide documented
evidence of professorship, letter of appointment and staff identity card.
He also said that the other surety must own a landed
property in Abuja worth the bail sum and must be verified by the court
registrar.
The judge, who ruled that the sureties must produce the
evidence of three years tax payment, ordered that the certified true copy of
the travel documents of the defendant which were in the custody of a court in
Minna, Niger, should be obtained.
He adjourned the matter until July 22 and 23 for hearing.
The ICPC in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/97/21, said that the
former chief executive officer allegedly committed multiple frauds, while
heading JAMB and the National Examination Council (NECO).
The court on 6 July rejected the defendant’s bail plea after
taking his plea on the 18-count charge preferred against him by the
anti-corruption commission.
The rejection followed the argument of counsel to the
prosecution, Ebenezer Shogunle, that his application for a “temporary bail” was
unknown to law.
The former JAMB registrar, however, pleaded not guilty to
all the charges.
Earlier, his counsel, Peter Olorunnisola, SAN, informed the
court of the bail application dated and filed on June 29.
“The application is supported by an affidavit and a written
address,” he said.
He also said that the defence filed an application on July 7
in response to the counter affidavit of the prosecution.
Olorunnisola urged the court to grant his client bail
pursuant to Section 162 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA)
and Section 35(1) of the Constitution.
Shogunle opposed the bail plea and the judge asked him if
Ojerinde was ever granted a bail by the ICPC.
“Yes my lord, we granted the defendant an administrative
bail,” he responded.
“Did the defendant breach any of the conditions attached to
the bail?,” Egwuatu asked.
The anti-corruption agency’s lawyer claimed Ojerinde
breached the administrative bail conditions granted to him.
The judge asked him further to describe how Ojerinde acted
contrary to the bail terms.
Shogunle then said that after he was granted the bail, he
promised to produce some of the suspects listed for investigations, some of
whom were members of his (Ojerinde’s) family, but failed to do so.
Justice Egwuatu asked, “So how does that amount to breaching
the administrative bail?”
He said the defendant, during one of the interview sessions
with members of his family, told the commission to discontinue the exercise
that he (Ojerinde) had decided to enter a plea bargain but the plea bargain
never worked.
The commission lawyer argued that if granted bail, the
defendant would interfere with the investigation as well as intimidate
witnesses.
Olorunnisola, who countered him, said the power to grant
bail is at the discretion of the court, citing a section of the law.
The senior lawyer further argued that the anti-graft agency
had already concluded its investigation on the defendant and keeping him in
detention endlessly would not be in the interest of justice.
Delivering his ruling, Justice Egwuatu held that there was
no evidence before the court to prove that the defendant jumped administrative
bail, interfere with investigation or intimidate witnesses, adding that the
prosecution had already concluded its investigation of the matter.
The judge, who acknowledged that a bail is at the discretion
of the court, said the court was willing to grant bail in favour of the
defendant.
Justice Egwuatu had warned the ICPC over the manner it was
handling the trial.
Egwuatu gave the warning following the inability of the ICPC
to produce Ojerinde in court 40 minutes after the case was called.
Shogunle apologised to the court that the officers of the
Suleja Correctional Centre, where the defendant was kept, were yet to bring him
to the court due to the distance and the traffic congestion along the road.
He had prayed the court to stand down the matter for about
30 minutes.
Although the judge stood down the matter after counsel to
the defendant did not oppose the prayer, Ojerinde was not produced in courtroom
more than an hour after other cases were dispensed with.
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