A Federal High Court has ordered a former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido, and his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha, accused of fraud, remanded in prison custody in Kano till September 28.
The former governor was arraigned on Thursday alongside his children for receiving N1.35 billion kickback from a government contractor.
The money was allegedly paid into accounts controlled by the governor and his sons.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC is accusing the four suspects of money laundering, amongst other charges.
They were due for arraignment Wednesday, but the court appearance was rescheduled to Thursday (today).
Security was stepped up around the court vicinity in Kano ahead of the hearing Thursday.
Delivering a ruling, Justice Evelyn Anyadike ordered that the four accused persons be remanded in a Kano Prison Custody because the EFCC said they lacked enough facilities to accommodate them.
She rejected the pleas of defence counsel, Effiong Effiong, SAN, that the accused be kept at EFCC custody, saying the commission had complained of inadequate facilities.
Twenty eight-count charge bordering on a number of alleged breach of trust by Sule Lamido, Aminu Sule Lamido, Mustapha Sule Lamido and one Aminu Wada Abubakar, was read in court.
They pleaded not guilty after the charges were read to them.
The case involved N1.351 billion.
The judge ruled that the accused persons be remanded pending the hearing of their bail applications.
Earlier, the defence counsel, Effiong, had argued that remanding the accused persons in prison would amount to trampling on their fundamental human rights.
He pleaded they be sent to either of EFCC facilities in Abuja or Kano, but the counsel to the EFCC, Chile Okoroma, objected to the plea, saying EFCC facilities were full to capacity both in Kano and Abuja.
The case was adjourned to September 28 for ruling on bail applications.
There was pandemonium in court between those supporting Lamido and those against him, leading the police to fire teargas canisters into the air to disperse the crowd.
Follow Us