The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Monday secured a warrant from Ikeja magistrate court to keep Femi Fani-Kayode in its custody for another three weeks.
Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, is under investigation on the N2.5billion illegally withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and paid into the accounts of six chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Goodluck Support Group (GSG).
Fani-Kayode was allocated about N840 million from the funds which were used for the 2015 presidential campaign.
According to our correspondent’s investigation, the ex-minister was moved to Lagos last night because of some fresh clues which a team of EFCC operatives will still interrogate him on.
A top source said: “The ex-minister has been taken to Lagos for further grilling based on some fresh issues which have been isolated for him to respond to.
“If you can recall, some of the suspects implicated in the N2.5billion scandal were quizzed in Abuja and Enugu before being transferred to Lagos.
In a statement by his Media Aide, Jude Ndukwe, Fani-Kayode described the new court order as “highly contentious”, stating that it was a gross abuse of court processes and a denial of his fundamental human rights.
“It is even most shocking that EFCC attempted to take him to the magistrate court without notifying his lawyers or family members. His lawyers had to go from court to court in Lagos searching for venue of the court proceedings before they eventually traced it to Ikeja.
“This type of treatment to any citizen of our nation especially in a democratic era is, to say the least, inhuman.
“One wonders why a case already before a High Court was entertained in a magistrate court, and judgement given immediately.
“This smacks of nothing but vendetta. EFCC have no reasonable cause to continue to keep Chief Femi Fani-Kayode in their custody beyond the constitutional provision of 48 hours.
“He is not known to have either attempted to evade arrest nor resisted same. EFCC have since concluded their investigations by the virtue of details of the case they leaked out to the public through the press. So, they have no reason to keep having him in their custody without taking the noble option of charging him to court, after all, they have already kept him with them long enough.
“As an organisation that prides itself as a constitutionally responsible one, it is expected that holding a citizen endlessly would not be part of EFCC’s operations.
“If they have anything against Chief Fani-Kayode, one expects that they should charge him to court rather than obtaining contentious remand warrants from one court to the other.”
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