The remanded former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, has informed the Federal High Court in Abuja that the Borno South Senator, Ali Ndume, has agreed to stand as surety for the bail granted him by the court.
Maina, who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on money laundering charges, said this through his lawyer, Joe-Kyari Gadzama (SAN), at the resumed hearing in his trial on Tuesday.
Ndume was not present at the Tuesday’s proceedings, but Maina who was produced in court by prison officials appeared on crutches.
The defendant was granted bail by the court on November 26, 2019, but has remained in detention due to his inability to meet the conditions imposed by the court.
His team of lawyers later applied to the court for a review of the bail conditions.
Granting the request in his ruling delivered on January 28, 2020, Justice Okon Abang reduced, among others, the bail sum from N1bn to N500m.
The judge, who earlier demanded two serving senators as sureties for the bail, reviewed it to one senator, who must be prepared to accompany him to court every trial date and have property worth N500m in either Asokoro, Maitama, Wuse II, Central Business District or Katampe districts in Abuja.
Still unable to meet the conditions, Maina later filed a fresh application for further review of the condition that required him to produce a serving senator as surety.
The judge, however, in his ruling delivered on April 29, 2020, dismissed the application for the second review of the bail conditions.
At the resumed hearing in the case on Tuesday, Gadzama informed the judge that his client had withdrawn the appeal filed against the bail conditions imposed by the court on the grounds that Ndume had agreed to stand as his surety.
Source: The Punch