On Thursday, a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Apo granted bail to Mr. Olu Agunloye, a former Minister of Power and Steel. He had been placed under remand in prison due to his suspected involvement in a $6 billion contract scam.
Trial Judge Jude Onwuegbuzie granted Agunloye bail in the amount of N50 million with two sureties in the same amount. He is pleading guilty to seven counts the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, filed against him.
The court stipulated that the sureties had to be wealthy, respectable residents of the Federal Capital Territory.
The court ruled that the sureties had to be the owners of landed properties valued at N300 million, and that the properties’ Certificates of Occupancy had to be verifiable.
Furthermore, the trial judge mandated that the sureties provide photocopies of their international passports and copies of their identity cards to the court registry.
The defendant was also mandated to guarantee his availability for his trial at all times and turn in his international passport to the court.
The defendant had pleaded with the court to either give him release on self-recognition or on very liberal terms through his attorney, Mr. Adeola Adedipe, SAN.
Agunloye emphasized that he was innocent but that the charge the anti-graft agency brought against him included an infraction for which he was eligible for bail.
He declared to the court that he would be present for his trial and that he would not be a flight risk.
A full hearing on the case was scheduled to begin on February 12 by Justice Onwuegbuzie in the interim.
The EFCC claimed that Agunloye, a Minister of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration from 1999 to 2003, had given an illegal contract for the build, operate, and transfer of a 3,960 MW hydroelectric power station at Mambila.
The agency informed the court that Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited was awarded the contract without any budgetary support, approval, or financial guarantee.
Additionally, it was alleged that Agunloye accepted illicit kickbacks from the company he granted the contract to the tune of N3.6 million.
But when he was docked on Wednesday, the defendant—who had previously held the position of Minister of State for Defense—pleaded not guilty to the accusation, and the court remanded him in Kuje prison while it considered his bail request.