Ahmed Dikko, former managing director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), has pleaded not guilty to a 12-count money laundering charge filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Dikko was arraigned before Inyang Ekwo, judge of a federal
high court in Abuja, on Wednesday alongside a company, Masterpiece Projects
& Investment Ltd, the second defendant in the case.
The EFCC alleged, among other counts, that the former PHRC
MD used about N218.4 million to acquire a property in Katampe extension in
Abuja, without passing the funds through a financial institution, contrary to
the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
At the commencement of proceedings, Ekele Iheanacho, counsel
to the EFCC, informed the court that the matter was slated for the defendants
to take their plea.
Dikko pleaded not guilty to all 12 counts, while Ikechukwu
Ajunwa, counsel to the defendants, entered a not guilty plea on behalf of the
company.
Following the arraignment, the prosecution asked the court
to fix a date for trial.
Ajunwa thereafter moved an application seeking bail for
Dikko, arguing that his client had complied with the conditions of the
administrative bail earlier granted by the EFCC and would not interfere with
the trial or jump bail.
The application was opposed by the prosecution, which urged
the court to refuse the request, relying on a counter-affidavit and written
address filed before the court.
In his ruling, Ekwo held that bail is a constitutional right
and that sufficient grounds must be established before it can be denied.
The judge admitted Dikko to bail in the sum of N150 million
with one surety in like sum.
He held that the surety must own landed property within the
jurisdiction of the court, submit the title documents for verification by the
court registrar, and be a responsible citizen.
The court also ordered Dikko to deposit his international
passport and barred him from travelling outside the country without its
permission.
Ekwo adjourned the case to October 12, October 13 and
October 14 for the commencement of trial.
The arraignment comes about two weeks after the EFCC filed
separate charges against Dikko and Jimoh Yisawu, former managing director of
the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), over the alleged diversion
of funds released for the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.
The anti-graft agency accused Dikko of receiving and
retaining funds from contractors engaged by the Nigerian National Petroleum
Company (NNPC) Limited, concealing the source of some of the money through
third parties and carrying out transactions that allegedly breached the Money
Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The commission also alleged that he made a cash payment of
about N218.4 million for a property in Abuja and converted $77,080 through a
third party.
The charges are part of the EFCC’s ongoing investigation
into the alleged diversion of funds approved for the rehabilitation and
turnaround maintenance of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries. The
commission has said the probe has so far led to the recovery of more than N9.4
billion, $21.2 million and several landed properties.
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