A Federal High Court sitting in Enugu on Monday again remanded the former governor of Edo State, Chief Lucky Igbinedion, in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) till February 11 for ruling on his bail application.
Chief Igbinedion was arraigned at the court presided over by Justice Olayinka Faji on a 147-count charge. Three companies were allegedly used by him to siphon money belonging to the state.
When Igbinedion appeared before the court, his lead counsel, Abdulahi Ibrahim (SAN), prayed the court to grant him bail on the grounds that �he is a responsible man who willingly submitted himself to the anti-graft commission.�
Abdullahi said the case was a bailable offence, stressing that the constitution guaranteed that citizens� rights should not be denied even for a day.
He assured the court that the ex-governor would be available any time he was needed by the court. But the lead counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Jacobs, urged the court to dismiss the bail application on the premise that the ex-governor would jump bail.
Jacobs said the former governor jumped bail when he was invited by the EFCC on June 13 and 14 last year.
According to the EFCC lawyer, the commission had then released Igbinedion to travel abroad on the belief that he would return to the commission with documentary evidence in three months time.
Jacobs stated that the ex-governor failed to return to the commission until when a bench warrant was issued by an Abuja high court compelling him to appear before it.
Justice Faji, after hearing the submissions of both counsel, remanded the ex-governor in EFCC custody while adjourning the case to February 14 for ruling on the application for bail.