N1.3BN SCAM: Ogunjobi, Lulu, others given stringent bail conditions •Maigari appeals court ruling

A federal high court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday admitted the quartet of Alhaji Sani Lulu, Mr Amanze Uchegbulam, Dr Bolaji Ojo-Oba and Chief Taiwo Ogunjobi to bail on stringent conditions, after they pleaded not guilty to the 10-count charge preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The former board members of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had earlier been re-arrested by the EFCC on Monday and arraigned in court on Tuesday.

Counsel for the accused, S.I Ameh (SAN), brought an oral application to the court praying it to admit the accused to bail based on the principle of presumption of innocence.

He further said that the accused were granted administrative bail by the EFCC on July 7, 2010 and since then none of them had jumped bail, adding that since the prosecution had asked for a short adjournment, it meant that investigation had been concluded and that there was no possibility of interfering with it.

In his ruling, Justice Donaltus Okorowa admitted the accused to bail on the grounds that the prosecution could not produce any other evidence apart from the charge and that the accused had always made themselves available since they were granted administrative bail by EFCC.

The judge thereby admitted them to bail in the sum of N100 million each with two sureties each in like sum, adding that one of the sureties must not be below the rank of assistant director in the federal civil service while the other surety must have a landed property in Abuja within the jurisdiction of the court.

The court also ordered that such surety must be a person of substance and must be able to present three years’ tax clearance certified from the Federal Inland Revenue Service, adding that the sureties must depose to an affidavit of means.

The accused and their sureties were also ordered to drop two passport size photographs each at the court and that the accused should in addition drop their international passports.

In the ruling which was delivered at about 5 p.m., the accused were ordered to be remanded in EFCC custody and be brought to court today to perfect their bail conditions, failure of which they should be remanded at the Kuje prisons.

Meanwhile, the removed president of the NFF, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, on Tuesday, filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, seeking to set aside the ruling of a federal high court sitting in Lagos which nullified his election.

The appeal was filed by Maigari and the chairman of the NFF’s electoral committee, A.U Mustapha.
The duo in the appeal want the appellate court to set aside the ruling which was delivered on Monday by Justice Okon Abang.

Their arguments were that the judge erred in law, when he nullified the elections, though, according to them, no application to that effect was argued before him.

Justice Abang had, on Monday, nullified the August 26 elections into the board of the NFF on the grounds that the elections were conducted despite a court order directing parties to maintain the status quo.

Justice Abang in his ruling also ordered the Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, to immediately arrest anybody that acted on the basis of the August 26 elections, and that the most senior administrative officer of the NFF should take over the affairs of the Glass House, pending the conduct of what he called a proper election into the NFF board.

He gave the ruling midway into the hearing of a suit filed by the Registered Trustees of the National Association of Nigerian Footballers (NANF).

NANF challenged the conduct of the NFF elections, which were originally fixed for August 21, on the basis that the process of the elections was perfected without recourse to its members, contrary to the clear wordings of FIFA statute and other extant laws relating to football administration in Nigeria.

However, Maigari and Mustapha, in the notice of appeal filed by their lawyer, Joseph Nwobike (SAN), stated that Justice Abang committed a grave miscarriage of justice by making unjustifiable consequential orders when there was no application of any counsel to that effect.

Joined as co-defendants to the appeal are NANF, President of the Nigeria Premier League Board (NPL), Davidson Owumi, Sports Minister, Isa Bio, and Director General of Sports, Patrick Ekeji.

The appellants stressed that when the order was made, what transpired was submissions on priority of applications and nothing more, adding that the judge did not invite counsel or parties to the suit to address him on whether or not the elections should be annulled.

In the meantime, Maigari and Mustapha have filed separate applications before the Federal High Court in Lagos seeking a stay of the order nullifying the elections.

The application was supported by a 14-paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Peter Ojih, a litigation officer in the law firm of Nwobike.

Ojih averred in the affidavit that if the execution of the orders were not stayed, the proceedings at the Court of Appeal would be rendered nugatory and a mere academic exercise.

He added that if the orders were carried out, Nigeria would be banned by FIFA from all regional, continental and global tournaments organised by the world football body and its affiliates.
Written by Tunde Oyesina and Akeem Nafiu.

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