The hide and seek game involving the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the recently sacked officials of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission officials snowballed into an arraignment this morning in Abuja as the seven officials of the Electricity Regulation body were docked before an Abuja High Court before Justice Salisu Garba.
The squabbles which started on the 4th of February with the arrest and detention of the Chairman, Vice Chairman and 5 Commissioners of the Electricity Regulatory body on the strength of an anonymous petition submitted to the anti graft agency had been in the public domain since then.
The seven official had severally accused the Minister of Power; Mr. Lanre Babalola, as the brain behind their ordeal and had dragged the Minister and his Justice Ministry counterpart; the Attorney General as well as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to court challenging their sack from the Commission, their arrest, investigation and detention by the anti graft agency before this morning’s development.
At the proceeding which commenced 4 hours ago and still running, the Chairman; Dr. Ransome Owan, the Vice Chairman; Mallam Abdulrahaman Ado, Prof Onwuamaeze Iloeje, Dr. Abdulrazaq Alimi, Engr. Mohammed Bunu, Engr. Abimbola Odubiyi and Dr. Grace Eyoma were slammed with 197 count charges bordering on Conspiracy, Dishonest Conversion of the funds of the Commission to personal use, Dishonest receipt of monies not due to them from the Commission, Disobedience of the law with intent to cause injury, Criminal Misappropriation of the Commission’s funds and collection of Cola Allowance.
In all, the 7 officials were accused of frittering away a princely sum of 1.5 billion Naira belonging to the Electricity Regulatory body.
A web of foreign trips created by the officials, according to the charge sheet, enabled them to rip off hard currencies from the Commission’s treasury. Dr. Owan was alleged on counts 24 to 55 to have, between 23rd January 2006 to 7th December 2008, traveled to Germany, Washington DC, India, France, Kenya, Turkey, London, Spain, Bamako; Mali, Zambia, Ghana, Canada, Dubai, Guinea Bissau and Michigan; USA severally and in the process exceeded his approved estacode allowance to the tune of about $102, 560.
Mallam Abdulrahaman Ado, in counts 56 to 75 was also alleged to have accessed the Commission’s treasury for undeserved funds as he was alleged to have traveled, between 23 January 2006 to December 2008, to France, Washington DC, London, China, France and Dubai and pocketing over $110,000 in excess of his legally allowed estacodes.
On conspiracy and dishonest conversion, counts 2 to 4 alleges that the Chairman of the Commission; Dr. Owan fraudulently converted the sum of $1, 033, 700 between February 2006 and December 2008 while Mallam Abdulrahaman Ado converted the sum of $140, 900 according to charges 5 to 8 between February 2006 and February 2009. Prof Iloeje was charged on charges number 9 to 11 to have fraudulently converted the sum of $110, 150 between February 2006 and December 2008. Dr. Abdulrazaq Alimi on his part was alleged on charges 12 to 14 to have converted dishonestly the sum of $151, 958 between December 2006 and December 2008 while Engr. Mohammed Bunu made $102, 549 through dishonest conversion of the Commission’s funds to personal use. Engr. Abimbola Odubiyi made $63, 402 while Dr. Grace Eyoma made $123, 700 through the same dishonest conversion between March 2006 and December 2008. The accused persons have so far pleaded not guilty to these charges so far
The charges were still being read to the accused for plea taking as at the time of filing this report.
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