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| MAHMUD TUKUR (L) AND ABDULAHI ALAO |
Two of the high-profile personalities alleged to have fraudulently received fuel subsidy payments were on Friday denied appeals to take possession of their seized international passports.
Justice Lateefat Folami of the Lagos High court refused to grant the application, brought by Mahmud Tukur, son of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Abdulahi Alao, son of prominent Ibadan politician and Islamic chieftain, Alhaji AbdulAzeez Arisekola-Alao; and Ochonogor Alex, another accused, to have their travelling documents released to them.
In her ruling, Justice Folami argued that she could not overrule the ruling of Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo, who had earlier held that the trio should deposit their travelling documents with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as part of their bail conditions.
Justice Folami agreed with the submission of EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, that the business meeting, which the 1st defendant claimed he wanted to attend, had been overtaken by time as the letter for the meeting was dated 20th August, 2011.
She also said she could not grant the application based on the argument that the defendant needed the document to travel for Hajj, since the Hajj period is likely to coincide with the trial date — 13th and 14th November 2012.
Tukur, Alao and Ochonogor were arraigned on 26th July 2012 on a nine-count charge for offences bordering on obtaining money through false pretence, forgery and uttering contrary to Section 468 of the Criminal Code before Justice Onigbanjo.
They were alleged to have fraudulently obtained N1.8bn from the federal government through the Petroleum Support Fund.
Justice Onigbanjo granted bail to the accused persons in the sum of N20m each, two sureties in like sum, with one of the sureties owning a landed property worth N100m and depositing the certificate at the court.
The judge also ordered that one of the sureties should be a Level-16 officer either with the Lagos State government or the Federal Government, and should present evidence of tax payment in the last three years. The accused persons are to deposit their international passport with the EFCC while the registrar is to verify all sureties.
