Justice Anwuli Chikere of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has remanded Abba Moro, former minister of interior, at the Kuje Prisons, following his arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the unsuccessful conduct of the March 2014 Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) recruitment exercise where about 20 job seekers lost their lives.
Moro was charged alongside a former permanent secretary of the ministry, Anastasia Daniel-Nwobia, deputy director, F. O. Alayebami and Mahmood Abubakar, who is said to be at large, and Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited (the contracting firm).
They all pleaded not guilty to the 11 count charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence, procurement fraud and money laundering, to which the EFCC accused the defendants of defrauding about 676,675 Nigerian applicants of N676,675,000.
Having taken their plea, the prosecution prayed the court to remand the accused persons in prison custody pending the determination of the substantive application.
Chris Uche, counsel to the second defendant, Anastasia Daniel-Nwobia, however, urged the court to allow her continue with the administrative bail earlier granted her by the EFCC on passionate grounds as she was a nursing mother.
Even though Aliyu Yusuf, prosecution counsel, confirmed service on him on the bail application by the three defendants, he however informed the court that it was served at the close of work on Friday, and as such, he needed time to reply to the application for bail.
Uche however argued before the court that the case of the second defendant was very peculiar, having been granted administrative bail by the EFCC. “They were served on Friday, because the law says the prosecution must file proof of evidence within seven days on the defendant, but they only filed and served that on Thursday,” Uche said.
The trial judge, in her ruling, said the former permanent secretary in the ministry should continue to enjoy the administrative bail pending the determination of the substantive application, while the matter was adjourned to March 2, 2016, for hearing on the bail application.
The defendants were also accused of flouting the Public Procurement Act No. 65 of 2007, in the award of the contract for the organisation of the recruitment test to an unregistered Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited.
The EFCC alleged that Drexel had no prior advertisement and no needs assessment and procurement plan was carried out before the contract was awarded.
According to the anti-graft agency, the contract was awarded through selective tendering procedure by invitation of four firms without seeking the approval of the Bureau for Public Procurement, contrary to sections 40, 42 and 43 of the Public Procurement Act, No. 65 of 2007 and punishable under section 58 of the same Act.
Drexel is also alleged to be unregistered and had no legal capacity to enter into the said contract.
There is also said to be no budgetary provision for the exercise in the 2014 Federal Capital budget, hence the applicants were made to bear the responsibility of funding the project without approval of the Board contrary to Section 22(5) of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act 2000, the charge said.
The charge reads in part: “One of the accused, Mahmood Ahmadu (who is at large), in connivance with Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited, lavished the total of N423,800,000, part of the N676,675,000 gotten from the applicants on the following: the sum N202, 500, 000 in purchase of a property in a choice area of the Federal Capital Territory, N120,100,000 used in upgrading a property in Abuja, while the total of N101,200,000 was converted to US dollars for personal use.”
