Breaking: Federal High Court Grants Fani-Kayode Bail

Former Minister of Aviation Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has been granted bail by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Monday.

Fani-Kayode, who was the spokesman of the Goodluck Jonathan presidential campaign in 2015 general election, was arraigned alongside former Minister of Finance Nenadi Usman by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) last Tuesday on money laundering charges to the tune of N4.9 billion.

The embattled former minister however, at a sitting on Monday, July 4 before Justice Sule Hassan of the Federal High Court, was granted bail to the tune of N250 million and 2 sureties in like sum.

Lawyers defending Mr. Fani-Kayode had urged the court to grant bail to their clients on self-recognizance or liberal terms. The lawyers stated that the EFCC did not hesitate to grant administrative bail to their clients, adding that they saw no reason why the commission would oppose their clients’ formal application for bail.

Ifedayo Adedipe, counsel to Mr. Fani-Kayode, contended that the commission only opposed bail as a formality, and joined the other defense lawyers to ask the court to grant bail solely at the judge’s discretion.

Mr. Fani-Kayode had filed a case on June 2, 2016 at a Federal High Court in Abuja objecting to his detention by the EFCC, arguing that it amounted to a violation of his fundamental human rights. However, on June 29, 2016, Justice Adeboyega Adeniyi ruled that the EFCC was within its constitutional powers to have detained him for 50 days before he first appeared before the court.

On June 28, 2016, the EFCC arraigned the three defendants before Justice Hassan at the Ikoyi Federal High Court. All three defendants pleaded not guilty to the commission’s 17-count charge. The charges against them revolve around their alleged unlawful retention, use, and payment of monies amounting to approximately N4.6 billion.