29th February, 2016
Former Interior Minister, Abba Moro and a deputy director in the Ministry, F. 0. Alayebami were on Monday ordered to be remanded in prison till Wednesday after they pleaded not guilty to 11-count charge bordering on abuse of procurement process and diversion of public funds preferred against him and four others by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The second defendant in the case, a permanent secretary in the ministry at the time the offences were committed, Anastasia Daniel-Nwobia, a deputy director in the ministry who also pleaded not guilty to the charge, was granted administrative bail while the fourth defendant, Mahmood Ahmadu, was said to be at large.
After the plea of the men were taken, counsel to the defendants asked for bail for their clients. The presiding judge, Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Federal High Court said the bail application will be argued on Wednesday.
In the 11-count charge, the EFCC accused the defendants and a contracting firm, Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd, of defrauding and allegedly collecting N676.6 million from 676,675 job seekers in the fatal Nigerian Immigration Service recruitment exercise in 2014.
Moro, Daniel-Nwobia, and F. O. Alayebami, Mahmood Ahmadu (at large), and Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd, are being accused of defrauding 676,675 Nigerian applicants of N676,675,000.
According to the anti-graft agency, N202,500,000 of the amount was spent on buying No. 1, Lahn Crescent, Maitama, Abuja while N120,100,000 was used to upgrade No.2, Sigure Close, Off Monrovia Street, Wuse II Abuja.
The commission said the recruitment firm, Drexel Tech Nigeria Limited, and Mahmood Ahmadu converted N101,200,000 to US dollars for personal use.
The accused are also alleged to have contravened the Public Procurement Act, No. 65 of 2007 in the contract awards by not following the necessary procedure laid down by the government.
One of the charges are:
“That you Abba Moro, Anastasia Daniel-Nwobia, F.O. Alayebami, Mahmood Ahmadu (at large) and Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd on or about the 17th of March 2013 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud conspired to induce a total number of 676,675 Nigerian job applicants seeking employment with Nigerian Immigration Service to deliver property to wit: cumulative sum of N676,675,000 which sum represents the sum of N1,000 per applicant under the false pretence that the money represents payment for their online recruitment exercise into Nigerian Immigration Service and which pretence you knew was false, contrary to Section 8 and 1(1) (b) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, No. 14 of 2006.”