Four former governors were on Friday charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission with allegedly laundering several billions of naira belonging to their respective states.
The ex-governors are Joshua Dariye (Plateau); Saminu Turaki (Jigawa); Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia) and Jolly Nyame (Taraba). Among the four, only three were arraigned at different courts in the Federal Capital Territory. Turaki and Dariye were docked at the Federal High Court, while Nyame was arraigned at an Abuja High Court sitting in Gudu.
Dariye was arraigned twice at two different courts for different offences. He was docked first before a Federal High Court and later before an Abuja High Court.
Kalu was brought to the premises of the Federal High Court but was not allowed to come out of the Peugeot Expert car that brought him.
At the Federal High Court, the EFCC�s lawyer, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, said criminal charges of money laundering and stealing of public funds had been filed against the ex-governors. He, however, did not release copies of the charges, assuring that the ex-governors would be released on Monday when their pleas would be taken.
When Dariye was docked and before the charges could be read to him, his lawyer, Dr. Olumide Ayeni, asked for time to study the charges, which he said had just been served on his client. The trial judge, Justice Babs Kuewumi, agreed to the fact that EFCC ought to have allowed the lawyers to the accused persons adequate time to study the charges.
He ordered that Dariye be remanded in EFCC�s custody till Monday when he would be formally arraigned.
The same course of event transpired when Turaki was arraigned before another judge, Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako.
The trial judge did not allow the charge to be read to him, but she ordered that the accused person be kept in EFCC�s custody till Monday by which time his lawyer, Mr. Rickey Tarfa, would have studied the charge.
The two judges directed that application for the bail of the suspects be made in writing. Dariye was brought to the court at 12.35 pm, while Turaki was driven into the premises by the EFCC about an hour later. Kalu was the last to come.
Kalu is being charged with 107 offences, along with his mother, Eunice Agwu, and one Emeka Abone� both of whom were said to be at large. The total sum of money allegedly laundered by Kau is about N3 billion.
Turaki on the other hand will face 32 offences involving the sum of N33 billion and another $20 million.
The money allegedly laundered by Dariye and the details of the charges against him could not be ascertained as at press-time. All of them were said to have contravened Section 17 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004.
A copy of the charge against Kalu obtained by our correspondent showed that he allegedly transferred various sums of money from the Abia State Government�s account to Slok Nigeria Limited, an offence under Section 14(1) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act.
These various sums of money were allegedly transferred by him from the Abia State Government�s account with Manny Bank Limited (now Fidelity Bank Plc) to Slok Nigeria Limited, a company solely owned by Kalu. According to the charge sheet, some of the transfers were done through the United Bank for Africa and Inland Bank.
Kalu was also accused of withdrawing various sums of money from the state�s account and paid into private accounts for the benefit of his family. The bulk of the money allegedly laundered by him were withdrawn from the state�s account and transferred to private accounts for the benefit of his family.
Already 21 witnesses have been listed to testify against Kalu, including detectives. The trial of the suspects, which is yet to start, attracted supporters of some of the ex-governors.
Senator Uche Chukwumerije was in the court to express solidrity with Kalu. Other members of Kalu�s Progressive Peoples Alliance, including the Acting Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Song; the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olu Akerele; its Lagos State governorship candidate, Mrs. Oluremi Adiukwu-Bakare, were in the court.