OSOGBO— AN Osogbo Chief Magistrate Court yesterday ordered former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Chief Sola Akinwunmi; former Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning, Chief Lere Adebayo to be remanded in Federal Prisons, Ilesa till Monday over their alleged involvement in the N126 million Bola Ige House contract scam.
Also ordered to remain in prison custody till next week is Architect Lanre Oladeji, the contractor that supervised the multi-million Naira project.
The two former state top government functionaries during Chief Bisi Akande’s administration and the contractor were docked on a five-count charge of conspiracy to steal and stealing of government fund contrary to the law and punishable under section 516 A of the criminal code cap 34, laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2003.
The prosecutor, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Emmanuel Obiakor told the court that the three accused persons between 30th August 2001 and 2nd May, 2003 at Osogbo, magisterial district conspired to commit felony to wit, stealing thereby committed an offence contrary to the laws of the land.
ACP Obiakor averred that the three accused persons standing trial "did steal the sum of N126,467,725.87, property of Osun State Government and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 388 and punishable under section 390(9) of the criminal code law, cap. 34, laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2003".
The prosecutor also told the court that the trio "did conspire to defraud Osun State government of the sum, part of the money meant for the construction of Bola Ige House at Abere and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 422 of the criminal code, cap.34".
When the five count charges were read to the accused persons, they all pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Counsel to the accused persons, Messrs Wale Afolabi and Bayo Alade asked the court to grant their clients bail since according to them, two of them had served the state in a higher capacity.
Citing section 118 of the criminal procedure act 1,2,3 to butress their points, the defence cousel said there are process for bail as coantained there-in "and I want the court to grant the accused who were eminent citizens of the state bail".
They also told the court that it would be wrong to order the acused persons to be remanded in prison custody "since their offences are criminal ones and not capital".
Specifically, the counsel asked the court to treat the case of Chief Akinwumi dispassionately on account of his state of health which might get worsened if remanded in prison.
But Obiakor objected to the bail of the accused persons on the ground that it took the police more than six months before the three accused persons could be brought together.
