Three Abuja businessmen “defraud construction companies of N44m”
Three businessmen, Aliyu Waziri, Imam Yakubu and Eneikarewajai Gordons are facing charges of fraud.
They have been accused of defrauding MAF Construction Limited and D207 Construction Limited of N44 million after posing to be in charge of the Nigerian Labour Co-operative Society Mass Housing Estate Project in Abuja.
Waziri, Yakubu, and Gordons were paraded before the FCT High Court on Tuesday.
A count against them read that they sometime in December 2015 in Abuja conspired to defraud MAF Construction Limited and D207 Construction Limited of N44 million.
All three men pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.
The prosecuting counsel subsequently expressed the readiness to proceed with trial, but the counsel for the businessmen informed the court of a bail application to be moved on behalf of their clients.
“In the circumstance, the defendants are on administrative bail and the prosecution had no cause to look for them,” he said.
“They have also assisted the respondent in the course of investigations, and so they will not interfere with the trial and will not also escape justice.”
Justice Kutigi, ruling on the application, noted that the offence was bailable, adding that, “all of them are presumed innocent until contrary, and nothing before the court suggests that they will be unavailable for trial.
“Moreover, they were granted administrative bail by the EFCC,” the trial judge added.
The judge adjourned to June 7, 2018 for “definitive hearing” and granted them bail in the sum of N500,000, with two sureties in like sum.
