7th June, 2011
Nigeria’s former speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole will be arraigned tomorrow 8 June  before Justice Donatus Okorowa, of the Federal High Court  7, Abuja.  Festus Keyamo, lawyer for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said the arraignment will start at 9 a.m.
Bankole, who was arrested by the operatives of the EFCC on Sunday will face a 16 count charge of theft, inflation of contracts and the award of contracts without following the  due process.
Among the accusations are  that Bankole and persons at large, approved the purchase of TV sets, printers and copiers at inflated costs.Keyamo,  the prosecutor in the case handled the case against Chief Olabode George, who was chairman of the Nigeria Port Authority, under the administration of General Olusegun Obasanjo.
A Lagos High Court, headed by Justice Oyewole, found George guilty of contract inflation and splitting, contrary to the official rules.
P.M. News hereby publishes the full charge:   IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURTHOLDEN AT ABUJACHARGE NO.: FHC/ABJ/CR/47/2011 BETWEEN:FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ………… COMPLAINANTANDDIMEJI BANKOLE ……………………………….. ACCUSEDCHARGE COUNT 1That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large on or about the 28th of May, 2008, within the jurisdiction of Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, did conspire amongst yourselves to inflate the cost of 400 units of 40-inch Samsung (LNS. 341) television sets by approving the purchase of the said item at the rate of N525,000.00 per unit, instead of the prevailing market price of N295,000.00 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(a) of the Public Procurement Act No. 14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 2: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large, sometime in 2008, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, did inflate the cost of 400 units of 40-inch Samsung (LNS. 341) television sets from N295,000.00 per unit (being the prevailing market price) to N525,000.00 per unit and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(b) of the Public Procurement Act No. 14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 3: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large, on or about the 28th of May, 2008 within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, rigged the bid for the procurement of 400 units of 40-inch Samsung (LNS. 341) television sets by refusal to follow all the procedures prescribed for public procurements in Sections 17 to 56 of the Public Procurement Act No.14 of 2007, leading to a loss of value to the national treasury and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(e) of the Public Procurement Act, No.14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 4: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large on or about the 28th of May, 2008, within the jurisdiction of Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, did conspire amongst yourselves to inflate the cost of 800 units of Desktop Computers (HP Compaq dc 5700) by approving the purchase of the said item at the rate of N330,000.00 per unit, instead of the prevailing market price of N160,000.00 per unit and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(a) of the Public Procurement Act No. 14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 5: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large, sometime in 2008, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, did inflate the cost of 800 units of Desktop Computers (HP Compaq dc 5700) from N160,000.00 per unit (being the prevailing market price) to N330,000.00 per unit and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(b) of the Public Procurement Act No. 14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 6: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large, on or about the 28th of May, 2008 within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, rigged the bid for the purchase of 800 units of Desktop Computers (HP Compaq dc 5700) by refusal to follow all the procedures prescribed for public procurements in Sections 17 to 56 of the Public Procurement Act No.14 of 2007, leading to a loss of value to the national treasury and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(e) of the Public Procurement Act, No.14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 7: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large on or about the 28th of May, 2008, within the jurisdiction of Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, did conspire amongst yourselves to inflate the cost of 100 units of Sharp Digital Copier 5316 by approving the purchase of the said item at the rate of N270,000.00 per unit, instead of the prevailing market price of N160,000.00 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(a) of the Public Procurement Act No. 14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 8: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large, sometime in 2008, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, did inflate the cost of 100 units of Sharp Digital Copier 5316 from N160,000.00 per unit (being the prevailing market price) to N270,000.00 per unit and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(b) of the Public Procurement Act No. 14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 9: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large, on or about the 28th of May, 2008 within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, rigged the bid for the purchase of 100 units of Sharp Digital Copier 5316 by refusal to follow all the procedures prescribed for public procurements in Sections 17 to 56 of the Public Procurement Act No.14 of 2007, leading to a loss of value to the national treasury and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(e) of the Public Procurement Act, No.14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 10: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large on or about the 28th of May, 2008, within the jurisdiction of Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, did conspire amongst yourselves to inflate the cost of 400 units of HP Laserjet 2600N by approving the purchase of the said item at the rate of N150,000.00 per unit, instead of the prevailing market price of N60,000.00 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(a) of the Public Procurement Act No. 14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 11: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large, sometime in 2008, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, did inflate the cost of 400 units of HP Laserjet 2600N from N60,000.00 per unit (being the prevailing market price) to N150,000.00 per unit and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(b) of the Public Procurement Act No. 14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 12: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large, on or about the 28th of May, 2008 within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, rigged the bid for the purchase of 400 units of HP Laserjet 2600N by refusal to follow all the procedures prescribed for public procurements in Sections 17 to 56 of the Public Procurement Act No.14 of 2007, leading to a loss of value to the national treasury and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(e) of the Public Procurement Act, No.14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 13: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large, on or about the 28th of May, 2008 within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, rigged the bid for the purchase of 2 units of Range Rover Bullet Proof vehicles by refusal to follow all the procedures prescribed for public procurements in Sections 17 to 56 of the Public Procurement Act No.14 of 2007, leading to a loss of value to the national treasury and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(e) of the Public Procurement Act, No.14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 14: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large, on or about the 28th of May, 2008 within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, rigged the bid for the purchase of 2 units of Range Rover vehicles (without bullet proofs) by refusal to follow all the procedures prescribed for public procurements in Sections 17 to 56 of the Public Procurement Act No.14 of 2007, leading to a loss of value to the national treasury and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(e) of the Public Procurement Act, No.14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 15: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large, on or about the 28th of May, 2008 within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, rigged the bid for the purchase of 3 units of Mercedes Benz S-600 cars by refusal to follow all the procedures prescribed for public procurements in Sections 17 to 56 of the Public Procurement Act No.14 of 2007, leading to a loss of value to the national treasury and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(e) of the Public Procurement Act, No.14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.
COUNT 16: That you, Dimeji Bankole and others now at large, on or about the 28th of May, 2008 within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, being Body of Principal officers of the House of Representatives responsible for the approval of contracts in the House of Representatives, with intent to defraud, rigged the bid for the purchase of 400 units of DSTV systems by refusal to follow all the procedures prescribed for public procurements in Sections 17 to 56 of the Public Procurement Act No.14 of 2007, leading to a loss of value to the national treasury and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 58(4)(e) of the Public Procurement Act, No.14 of 2007 and punishable under Section 58(5) of the same Act.　Dated this…………………….day of…………………………………………2011　　FESTUS KEYAMO, ESQ.(PRIVATE PROSECUTOR)FOR: ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATIONAND MINISTER OF JUSTICEC/O FESTUS KEYAMO CHAMBERS,13, NOUAKCHOTT STREET,NEAR BANK PHB,WUSE ZONE 1,ABUJA. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURTHOLDEN AT ABUJACHARGE NO.: FHC/ABJ/CR/47/2011 BETWEEN:FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ………… COMPLAINANTANDDIMEJI BANKOLE ……………………………….. ACCUSED　PROOF OF EVIDENCE　Contract Documents for purchase of all items contained in the Charge.Minutes of Meeting of 28th May, 2008 of Body of Principal Officers.Statement of Witnesses.Statement of Accused persons.　 Dated this…………………….day of…………………………………………2011　　FESTUS KEYAMO, ESQ.(PRIVATE PROSECUTOR)FOR: ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATIONAND MINISTER OF JUSTICEC/O FESTUS KEYAMO CHAMBERS,13, NOUAKCHOTT STREET,NEAR BANK PHB,WUSE ZONE 1,ABUJA.　　IN THE FEDERAL HIGH COURTHOLDEN AT ABUJACHARGE NO.: FHC/ABJ/CR/47/2011 BETWEEN:FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ………… COMPLAINANTANDDIMEJI BANKOLE ……………………………….. ACCUSEDLIST OF WITNESSESInvestigating Police OfficersOfficers of the Bureau for Public ProcurementsOfficers of the Due Process officeOfficers of National Assembly Tenders Board　 Dated this…………………….day of…………………………………………2011　　FESTUS KEYAMO, ESQ.(PRIVATE PROSECUTOR)FOR: ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF THE FEDERATIONAND MINISTER OF JUSTICEC/O FESTUS KEYAMO CHAMBERS,13, NOUAKCHOTT STREET,NEAR BANK PHB,WUSE ZONE 1,ABUJA