An FCT High Court was on Monday asked to commit the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Magu, for contempt of court for allegedly refusing to release former Jigawa governor, Saminu Turaki on bail. Hide quoted text
The application was filed before Justice Yusuf Halilu, who is the vacation Judge.
Turaki was arrested on charges of money laundering by EFCC at a public function on July 4 following a bench warrant the commission said it got at a Federal High Court in Dutse, Jigawa in 2014.
However, the former governor went to court to seek for enforcement of his fundamental human right arguing that the period of his detention by the EFCC had gone beyond the stipulated 48 hours provided by the constitution.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Justice Yusuf Halilu on July 13, ordered EFCC to release the former governor from its custody on bail.
Under the bail conditions Turaki was expected to present two sureties who must have a verifiable means of livelihood and must be resident within the FCT.
He was also ordered to deposit all his travel documents with the court registry and to report to EFCC every two weeks for signing of a register that would be opened for him.
However, the EFCC filed a motion on July 14 asking the court to set aside the bail it granted to him.
According to EFCC, the bail condition is too liberal and that the matter is already before the Abuja Federal High Court as at the time the court granted the bail.
In an application filed on his behalf by Mrs Regina Okotie-Eboh of Rickey Tarfa Chambers, Turaki is praying the court to jail Magu for disobeying its order.
He is also praying the court to compel the commission to release him from custody and rule that it has jurisdiction to hear the matter.
Justice Halilu adjourned until July 20 to hear the application.
NAN
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