Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
Stephen Oronsaye in court
The trial of former Head of Service, HoS, to the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye, and his co-accused person, Osarenkhoe Afe, who are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for a N2 billion fraud, witnessed a new twist on July 21 when Justice Gabriel Kolawale of the Federal High Court, Abuja, said he intended to return the case file to the Chief Judge for reassignment.
Tuesday’s proceeding was for the hearing of the bail applications filed by Oronsaye and his co-accused, who are alleged to have been complicit in using two companies – Federick Hamilton Global Services Limited, and Xangee Technologies Limited, for shady biometrics enrolment deals to the tune of N2 billion.
Justice Kolawole had on July 13, 2015 released the accused persons to their counsel and fixed July 21, 2015 for hearing of the bail applications.
At the resumed sitting, prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, told the court that it would be “extremely difficult for him to oppose the bail applications for the accused persons”, because in his view, “the act of the last sitting, in which Oronsaye was released by the judge was tantamount to being released on bail” such that it might amount to a futile effort to now try to oppose their bail applications. He said that it would be better in the instance to “focus on the conditions that would be attached to the bail”. He further noted that in the said bail application of Oronsaye, were already a list of sureties that could stand for the accused person, an indication that the accused person was sure of being granted bail.
Kanu Agabi, SAN, counsel to Oronsaye, on his own part, further urged to court not to send his client to prison custody, as “our prisons are bad” and averred that …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
