Mr Fintri was arraigned
by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge
bordering on money laundering.
He was said to have
defrauded the Adamawa government to the tune of N970 million and 4.8 million
dollars when he was the governor of the state for three months.
The defendant, however,
pleaded not guilty to the charge.
His counsel, Mahmud
Magaji, applied for his bail contending that the offences were bail-able.
Mr Magaji based his bail
arguments on Section 35 (6) of the 1999 Constitution which presumes his client
innocent until proven guilty.
Furthermore, he relied
on sections 158 and 163 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act in urging
the court to admit the defendant to bail.
“We rely on these
sections in seeking the order of the court to admit the defendant to bail
pending the determination of the case.
“At this stage, the
accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by the prosecution.
“Also, bail is
discretionary and prior to the arraignment of the defendant, he had been on
administrative bail of the EFCC.
“Part of the
requirements of the bail was that the defendant had to deposit his
International Passport with the EFCC,’’ he said.
Mr Magaji assured the
court that Mr Fintri would not jump bail and that he would always be available
to face his trial.
The prosecuting counsel,
Peters Aso, opposed the application, and urged the court to take judicial
notice of a document filed by the defence concerning a medical issue of the
defendant.
Mr Aso said that it
appeared that Fintri lied on oath since the date, which he said the doctor told
him of his ailment was earlier than the date he said he was examined.
The prosecuting counsel
said although he was not a medical personnel, he believed that one should be
first examined before being told of his health condition.
Mr Aso, therefore,
prayed the court to deny the bail application and remand the defendant in
prison for the period of trial.
The judge, Justice Ahmed
Mohammed, however, fixed ruling on the bail application for July 1.
(NAN)
No comments:
Post a Comment