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Tag: House Committee

  • House committee dismisses corruption allegations against NELMCO

    House committee dismisses corruption allegations against NELMCO

    The House of Representatives Committee on Public Asset has dismissed allegations of corrupt practices levelled against the Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company by a civil society group, the Association for Public Policy Analysis (APPA).

    President of the civil society organization, Princewill Okorie had accused NELMCO of misappropriation of funds, shady operations, among sundry allegations, while questioning  the continued existence of NELMCO 12 years after its privatisation. 

    Chairman of the Sub- Committee, Dabo Ismail, said at the resumed investigative hearing on the petition that the panel took the allegations seriously and immediately launched a comprehensive investigation to unmask what truly transpired.

    The Bauchi lawmaker said NELMCO’s existence is backed by the provisions of the Nigeria Electricity Act, 2023, a position he said contradicts the position of the petitioner that the agency ought to have folded up in 2017 after the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria. 

    “We asked NELMCO to provide us with documents backing their existence and they did. Under the Nigerian Electricity Act 2023, NELMCO assumed responsibility for all PHCN’s and successor companies’ assets and liabilities. So, this enabling law and the Committee verified this law to be true and correct,” the Committee Chairman said.

    Speaking to the allegation that NELMCO spent N94m on a five-day retreat in Lagos, the Managing Director of NELMCO, Mojoyinoluwa Dekalu-Thomas expressed the readiness of the agency to provide evidence of the expenditure incurred in the course of the training.

    She said: “The Director General of the Debt Management Office, the Director General of the Bureau for Public Procurement, my executive directors, two non-executive directors, facilitators-25 people in all spent five days at the Intercontinental Hotel, Lagos and we have pictures and documentary evidence to support this. 

    “We paid for flights, logistics, food, accommodation and that is where the N94 m went. It was not a one-day event but a five-day retreat and the Minister of Power was there for the entire retreat. This is documented too,” a claim supported by the Committee. 

    Read Also: Senate, House Minority Leaders: gang-up not option now

    According to Ismail, the N94m “Is justifiable considering the dignitaries that attended the five-day retreat.”

    An unidentified member of the committee added that at the Eko Signature Hotel Lagos, “A moderate room is N650,000 per night. Five nights for 25 people will cost N81m, no feeding, no ticketing. This figure (N94m) might be big in our eyes but I think it is justifiable.”

    In his contribution, a member of the Committee, Hon Billy Osawaru, said since the N94m was appropriated, there was no need for members to deliberate further on the issue. 

    “Was the money appropriated? Mr Chairman, if the money was appropriated, what that means is that at some point, they brought this to us and we approved it. I don’t think that at this point, we should start going back. So if they have brought all this proof, we should move on,” he said. 

    The Chairman of the Committee again said all documents relating to the five-day retreat including payments made for logistics, were submitted by the agency during its investigation. 

    He also dismissed the petitioner’s claim of a purchase of office in the North by the agency, saying, “We didn’t see evidence of purchase of office in the North.”

    The Committee urged the petitioner to feel free to come forward with other subsequent findings, promising that it would do justice to every petition submitted before it in the interest of Nigerians.

  • House committee chair debunks $1.7m inducement

    House committee chair debunks $1.7m inducement

    The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Downstream Petroleum, Ikenga Ugochinyere, has said those who want to escape justice from the infractions they committed in the oil and gas sector are spreading inducement falsehood in the appointment of investigative committee members for the probe.

    Ugochinyere’s standing committee was the lead body investigating the infractions in the oil sector, which the House leadership dissolved recently.

    In a statement yesterday in Abuja by his Chief of Staff, Ernest Njesi, the lawmaker said it was childish to believe that he gave Speaker Tajudeen Abbas $1.7m to head a committee.

    Read Also: Reps debunk allegations of inducement in appointment of oil, gas committee

    The statement said: “The allegation is a belated nonsensical, childish and unprofessional fiction work aimed at creating division in the House to aid some criminal elements who are long overdue for prison to think they can escape justice, which is impossible, as the demand for transparency and reform is a task that will be pushed.

    “Only a childish mind will believe the poorly scripted work that Speaker was given $1.7 million for something that those not worth a penny. We will not dignify the cheap attempt to distract and divert attention from the House investigation on the corruption from our oil industry.

  • Reps pass bill on Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons

    …Say 350m Small Arms and Light Weapons in Nigeria

     

    The House of Representatives Wednesday passed through second Reading a bill establishing the National Commission against the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons.

    The bill sponsored by the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and Hon. Nnena Elendu- Ukeje (PDP Abia) was referred to the House committee on National Security and Intelligence for further legislative action.

    According to the bill, the Commission amongst other things “shall be charged with the responsibility of combating illicit trafficking of arms by strengthening laws and regulations, reinforcing operational capacity and improving on the system in tracing arms flow.”

    It will also promote “removal of arms from society through collection, storage, destruction, management and stockpiling of small arms and light weapons;

    “Control the manufacture and register small arms and light weapons including those to be used in Peace Keeping operations, update its register and transmit same to ECOWAS, AU, UN.

    Read Also:Court nullifies Jibrin’s suspension by House of Reps

    Elendu- Ukeje, who took the argument for the passage of the bill, said: “What used to be a fringe conversation has become mainstream conversation about Nigeria’s insecurity concerns are highlighted on a daily basis as communal conflicts , religious crises, insurrection, terrorism, insurgency, militancy, revolt, electoral violence, robbery, cross border smuggling, kidnapping, sexual violence, domestic violence and all other threats as highlighted in the National Security strategy has been on the increase in the past couple of years.

    “In a recent meeting with the United Nation Center for Peace and Disarmament held by the National Coordinator, Mrs. Okubo Ige, she said that West Africa had about 500 million small arms in circulation and  hat 70 percent of those arms reside in Nigeria. She put the number at about 350 million,” the lawmaker said.

    She further added that statistics from the Office of the Senate President on the timeline of killings in the Middle Belt region alone shows that there have been over 80 reported incidences of armed conflict that had claimed over 877 lives between 1st January to 29th April 2018.

    According to her, “obsolete laws and ineffective stockpile management” was responsible for the present proliferation. She said that Nigeria and Gambia are probable the only two countries in West Africa and probably Africa that has no National Commissions against the proliferation of arms.

    When the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara called for a voice vote on the bill, it was supported by majority of members, many of whom had earlier spoken in favour of the bill.

    Recall that the Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS in October1998 signed a declaration of the Moratorium on the importation, exportation and manufacture of light weapons and its code of conduct in the sub- region, as well as the establishment of National Commissions Against the Proliferation of Small Arms in Member States.

    Again in 2006 in Abuja, they met and signed a legally binding Convention known as the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, their Ammunition and other related matters to replace the Moratorium. Nigeria ratified the Convention in 2009.

  • DSO: firm tackles House Committee over N20b payment

    Pursuant to the drive to achieve digital switch over (DSO), a firm, Cable Channels Nigeria Limited (CCNL), has denied allegation that it collected about N20 billion from the Federal Government for the procurement and distribution of FreeTv decoders to Nigerian homes.

    CCNL, a consortium of re-broadcast companies and promoters of FreeTv in Nigeria, told reporters during a briefing in Abuja that there was no iota of truth in the allegation by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Digitisation.

    Its Chairman, Sir Kunle Osisanya Afolabi, said it was disheartening that members of the House Committee failed to use facilities at their disposal to unearth the truth about the operations of the company to enable them appreciate the impact it has made in the industry over the years.

    Sir Afolabi, who spoke against the backdrop of the Reports of the Ad-hoc Committee and the controversy it has generated among industry players, insisted that even before the launch of DSO in December 2016, CCNL has remained a major industry player as a licensed Cable TV Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) operator in the country with vast knowledge and experience spanning more than 30 years.

    He said: “CCNL is the official Nigerian licensed content aggregator for the DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) and DSAT Free-to-view platforms with the responsibilities to manage; market and promote to the final consumers as a part of the Nigerian National DSO Strategy.

    “We have distributed about 630,000 FreeTv boxes in Abuja and Jos and their environs out of the 750,000 subsidised boxes as of today.

    “The truth is that we have not being paid a dime for the over 150 channels that Nigerians are enjoying in their homes and we have been using shareholders’ funds to sustain our businesses in the believe that, by the time things take shape in the industry, our shareholders will also benefit.

    “It is therefore misleading insinuations that CCNL was a new comer in the industry and has been paid huge amount of money to tune of about N20 billion. This is not true and it is unfortunate that members of the National Assembly could not use their foot-soldiers to authenticate the reality about our predicament.

    “Let me also emphasise that those dishing out some misinformation about the history of the industry in Nigeria do not know anything about the industry. But we believe the regulatory bodies will assert themselves and do the needful for the growth and development of the industry.

    “We also believe that all hope is not lost regarding the digital switchover, but we want the present problems facing the industry to be iron out as soon as possible.”

    Flanked by the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Mr Rajiv Mekkat and other management staffers, Sir Afolabi said trouble started in the industry when some members of the ecosystem wanted to take on the roles of others.

    According to him, at the inception of the digitisation process, all MMDS re-broadcast operators spread across the country were forced to digitise their services at costs well over N10 billion.

    “In the transition from analogue to digital, these MMDS rebroadcast operators (12 of them) who had transited to digital since 2009 and operating under their collective business name Cable Channels Nigeria Limited were licensed to undertake their very familiar business of content aggregation.

    “The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) decided to give the cable operators the aggregation licence in order to accommodate their invaluable experience in content aggregation business, their knowledge of the distribution network which they have been doing for over three decades, their relevance in the new television configuration, to help save some jobs of their workforce, to recoup, even on a long time basis some of their losses in giving up their investment for the country to go digital in compliance with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) directive and mindful of the many benefits freeing up of the spectrum would have on the economy of the country and many other reasons.

     

  • DSO: firm tackles House Committee on N20b payment

    A firm, Cable Channels Nigeria Limited (CCNL), has denied allegation that it collected N20 billion from the Federal Government for the procurement and distribution of FreeTv decoders to Nigerian homes for digital switch over (DSO).

    CCNL, a consortium of re-broadcast companies and promoters of FreeTv in Nigeria, told reporters during a briefing in Abuja that there was no iota of truth in the allegation of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Digitisation.

    Its Chairman, Sir Kunle Osisanya Afolabi, said it was disheartening that members of the House Committee failed to use the facilities at their disposal to unearth the truth about the operations of the company to enable them appreciate the impact it has made in the industry over the years.

    Sir Afolabi, who spoke against the backdrop of the Reports of the Ad-hoc Committee and the controversy it has generated among industry players, insisted that even before the launch of DSO in December 2016, CCNL has remained a major industry player as a licensed Cable TV Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) operator in the country with vast knowledge and experience spanning more than 30 years.

    He said: “CCNL is the official Nigerian licensed content aggregator for the DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) and DSAT Free-to-view platforms with the responsibilities to manage; market and promote to the final consumers as a part of the Nigerian National DSO Strategy.

    “We have distributed about 630,000 FreeTv boxes in Abuja and Jos and their environs out of the 750,000 subsidised boxes as of today.

    “The truth is that we have not being paid a dime for the over 150 channels that Nigerians are enjoying in their homes and we have been using shareholders’ funds to sustain our businesses in the belief that, by the time things take shape in the industry, our shareholders will also benefit.

    “It is therefore misleading insinuations that CCNL was a new comer in the industry and has been paid huge amount of money to the tune of about N20 billion. This is not true and it is unfortunate that members of the National Assembly could not use their foot-soldiers to authenticate the reality about our predicament.

    “Let me also emphasise that those dishing out some misinformation about the history of the industry in Nigeria do not know anything about the industry. But we believe the regulatory bodies will assert themselves and do the needful for the growth and development of the industry.

    “We also believe that all hope is not lost regarding the digital switchover, but we want the present problems facing the industry to be iron out as soon as possible.”

    Flanked by the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Mr Rajiv Mekkat and other management staffers, Sir Afolabi said trouble started in the industry when some members of the ecosystem wanted to take on the roles of others.

    According to him, at the inception of the digitisation process, all MMDS re-broadcast operators spread across the country were forced to digitise their services at costs well over N10 billion.

    “In the transition from analogue to digital, these MMDS rebroadcast operators (12 of them) who had transited to digital since 2009 and operating under their collective business name Cable Channels Nigeria Limited were licensed to undertake their very familiar business of content aggregation.

    “The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) decided to give the cable operators the aggregation licence in order to accommodate their invaluable experience in content aggregation business, their knowledge of the distribution network which they have been doing for over three decades, their relevance in the new television configuration, to help save some jobs of their workforce, to recoup, even on a long time basis some of their losses in giving up their investment for the country to go digital in compliance with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) directive and mindful of the many benefits freeing up of the spectrum would have on the economy of the country and many other reasons.

    “However, CCNL is the only stakeholder in the comity of DSO operators’ chain that has not been funded till date. We rather paid licence fee and generate funding for our operations,” he said.

  • House Committee seeks public hearing on airport concession

    The House of Representatives Committee on Aviation said yesterday that it will call for public hearing with stakeholders to discuss the proposed concession of some airport terminals by Federal Government.

    The committee also expressed dissatisfaction with the slow pace of work at the new international terminal being constructed by the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company.

    The committee said given the current pace of work, the contractors may not be able to deliver the project in December.

    Its Chairman, Hon Nkieruka Onyejiocha said the public hearing will enable the lawmakers get the input of industry players on the proposed concession.

    She said concession may not be the best way to go as it will mean giving out airports that are yielding revenue to government.

  • El-Zakzaky: House Committee visits Zaria, promises fairness

    El-Zakzaky: House Committee visits Zaria, promises fairness

    The House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence on Wednesday promised to be fair to all parties involved in the military/shiite clash which occurred in Zaria, Kaduna State last month.

    The Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Aminu Jaji, made the disclosure in an interview with journalists shortly after he led the Committee members to various scenes of the clash in Zaria.

    He said “we are here to ascertain what actually happened on Dec. 12, 2015 between the military and members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria also known as Shiite.

    “We have visited the scenes; we have spoken to the public and we are satisfied with what the people told us; we will make sure we do everything within the ambit of the law to avoid a recurrence.’’

    Jaji appealed to the public to be law abiding and endeavour to sustain the prevailing peace in the country.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the committee had earlier paid homage to the Emir of Zazzau, Dr Shehu Idris, at his palace.

    The Emir appreciated the Committee for the visit, saying it demonstrated the members’ efforts and concern toward lasting peace in the country.

    During the visit to the various demolished scenes, the Committee members sought for public opinion as they moved.

  • ‘I rejected House Committee appointment based on principle’

    ‘I rejected House Committee appointment based on principle’

    All Progressives Congress (APC) member of the House of Representatives from Oyo State, Hon. Sunday Adepoju has  rejected his selection as the Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Special Duties. He spoke with VICTOR OLUWASEGUN and DELE ANOFI on why he declined the offer.

    Why are you refusing the offer of the Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Special Duties?

    All over the world, the majority party takes over government and the committees that will drive the policies of the government are given to party members. The reason is simple. It is to enable effective  execution of the manifestos of the governemnt. In our own case, when the list of chairmanship  of committees was read out, it was a different  case altogether. This is because key committees that can drive the change agenda of President Buhari were conceded to the opposition. Now, without being biased, how do we go about influencing policies that will drive the change we craved for, if those in charge are our opponents. Yes, people would want to ask whether it was because I wasn’t given what I was aiming for. I want to be clear about it. I was not sent here primarily to come and sit as a chair of a committee, but to give good representation to my constituents. In this case,that is, my rejection of the Deputy Chairmanship, my constituents were very much involved and they asked me to do what I did. I was made to realize that this is about the change our party stands for. They said it is better to reject the position and that we should not allow ourselves to be pushed into the opposition in our own government. It’s nothing personal, but we have a duty to ensure that the party we all fought for and succeeded in taking this far should not fail. Conceding key committees to the opposition is another way of ensuring that programmes the APC have for this country are the truncated.

    Isn’t this about juicy committees eluding you?

    This is not about juicy committee or not. I was not sent here to struggle for juicy committee, neither am I sent here to go and beg for money from ministries and agencies, but in a democracy, your party must be in total control of ideas and programmes that will drive your plans for the country. One of such ways is for the majority party to have a grip on key committees that will influence the execution of those policies and programmes, whether on the economy or development in general. Do we truly expect the opposition to see or talk anything good about our party or our President? All they will be doing is pull our party down.  Haven’t we seen how far they went to pull him down in the build up to the election? Even after the election, despite all President Buhari has been doing to turn around this country for good, has the opposition seen anything good about it? In other words, by giving these key committees to the opposition, is that what we want to turn this House into? We were in the opposition before and we know how this works. It is just sad. How did we get to this level? How did we get ourselves into this position where we will not be able to influence policies that will drive the change we promised Nigerians?

    But, how would committees chairmanship  influence policies and programmes that has generated this controversy?

    We don’t have to look far. When we appropriate as lawmakers, what about driving it. Let’s come down to how it affects us. When heads of MDAs are invited, whether Minister, Permanent Secretary, Director General or whatever, let us be frank, the Chairman of a Committee can mess things up with them. Yes, we have Appropriation, but what of Finance, the three Petroleum Committees (Upstream, Downstream, Gas), Aviation, Environment,  Foreign Affairs, Science and Technology,  Works, FERMA, part of Marine, there are more. They are all in the hands of opposition. With this, it is not difficult to see that those that will drive the ideas of change are not in control. This is not a personal matter. I’m on good terms with the Speaker. The Deputy Speaker is also my friend. We relate well, but this is about the party. As opposition in the last Assembly, as new members, we were told to take the back seat. We did because we wanted the nation to move forward. When we were complaining,  they told us to research into older democracies and see how opposition members are treated by the majority party. They told us to do our job as opposition and the job of the opposition is to make the government unpopular. But, why do we have to concede so much sensitive roles to the opposition that is bent on making our governemnt unpopular. Take a look. Have we heard the opposition commend any effort of the present administration since inception? Take a look at how they went about the isues of 100 days and security challenges. Yet, we are in a way empowering them to hurt our governemnt.

    Does it not look like your action was influenced by a group?

    I am not talking on behalf anybody. My action is not influenced by any group, but my constituents. Yes, I belonged to a group, prior to the election, but after the exercise,  I pledged my loyalty to the Speaker. Lasun is my good friend too, I will never wish them bad. The way forward is to make Nigeria great, rally round the Speaker and offer useful ideas when it is necessary. That’s what I have been doing because I relate freely with them. You can ask the Speaker. That shows that I am not talking from the point of any group. My action evolved from what I believe in. I must also make it clear that I can not speak for any lawmaker. I can only talk for myself. When I was  coming here, I had the choice of contesting on the platform of the PDP, Accord Party or any other party, but I chose to go with the APC because their inclination was in consonance with my belief. I have in mind what I want to achieve here just like others have in mind what they are here for. We should just respect that. As far as I’m concerned, when what I expected is not happening, I should have the privilege of acting as it pleases me.

    On this matter, though i was denied reading the letter on the floor, but I have submitted it. Notwithstanding, I remain a committed member of the House. I will do my job diligently and to the best of my knowledge and I remain friendly with the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.

    What do you think is the way forward?

    On the way forward, if we take it that the deed has been done and we keep quiet, then, we won’t be fair to those that sent us here. They will only look at us as incapable of defending the mandate they gave us because our promise to them was to drive the programmes that will bring the change they voted for. I beleive Mr Speaker is very learned and undertaking. Perhaps, he wasn’t aware of the implications of that action. So, by speaking out, he may want to redress the situation and not be seen as not belonging to our party. With this development of keeping the PDP in control, the road would rather be too tough for the APC in the actualisation of its programmes of moving this country forward.

  • PDP set to resist APC’s move to settle House committee crisis

    PDP set to resist APC’s move to settle House committee crisis

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is mobilizing its members in the  House of Representatives for a possible showdown with the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) over moves by the APC national Chairman, Chief  John Odigie-Oyegun to intervene in the crisis sparked by the recent constitution of the House standing committees.

    House Leader Femi Gbajabiamila and his supporters claim they and the APC were short changed by Speaker Yakubu Dogara in the appointment of chairmen and vice chairmen for the committees.

    Dogara, according to them, conceded too many positions to the PDP, and therefore want a redress.

    The matter has already reached Odigie-Oyegun who, according to party sources, is disposed to intervening in the matter.

    This, it was gathered, is now generating concern among PDP Reps who are crying external interference in the business of the Green Chamber of the National Assembly.

    The APC National Chairman has  reportedly met separately with Dogara and Gbajabiamila to discuss the bad blood caused by the sharing of the committee positions although no settlement has been reached yet.

    Of the 96 Standing Committee chairmen and their deputies appointed, the APC got 48 to PDP’s 45. The APC also got 55 Deputy chairmen while the PDP caucus was given 39.

    The Speaker has consistently rejected calls to review the list of committee heads in a way that gives the APC a comfortable hold on the leadership House.

    It was gathered that the APC national chairman had parleyed with Dogara and his deputy, Yussuf Lasun, hours after he earlier met and discussed at length with the Majority Leader at his Abuja residence. Both meetings,  according to reliable sources, centered on possible ways of resolving the lingering crisis.

    One of the sources said: “It is very correct that the national chairman hosted and discussed with the Speaker and his Deputy. The duo came on the invitation of Chief Oyegun. They discussed the crisis generated by the sharing of the standing committees of the House of Representatives and sought possible ways of ending the crisis.”

    The Chairman had earlier met with Gbajabiamila who   complained that he was not involved in the composition of the committees. The meeting also discussed allegations that the APC was not adequately catered for in the composition of the committees.

    It was gathered that both meetings proffered ways of settling the rift between the two camps amicably before the inauguration of the standing committees this week by the Speaker.

    “Following the two parleys, I want to believe that the issues raised will be addressed and resolved before the inauguration of the standing committees. Given the dispositions of all the parties at the meetings with the national chairman, it is convenient to say truce is in sight over the matter,” our source added.

    But the PDP, according to reliable party sources, has instructed its members in the House to get ready to resist any external interference in the affairs of the Green chamber.

    The Nation learnt that following reports of Odigie-Oyegun’s meeting with Dogara and Gbajabiamila, the leadership of the opposition party met with the PDP caucus in the House and urged them to reject any move by the leadership of the APC to resolve the crisis generated by the sharing of committee headships.

    A source familiar with the development said:”worried that the APC might browbeat the Speaker into altering the composition of the committees, the PDP had called on its caucus in the House to resist all forms of external interference in the activities of the lower chamber. The call was made in Abuja when the leadership of the party met with some PDP legislators on the matter.

    “While we are not interested in what transpired at the meetings, it is important to say that the PDP will not fold its hands and watch the APC interfere in the businesses of the national assembly at random by dishing out instructions to the leadership of the House on how to conduct its affairs.

    “Concerning the composition of the committees, we want to believe the Speaker gave a good account of himself and he should stick with that. The leadership of our party recently raised the alarm on the need for us as federal legislators to prevent external interference in the running of the lower chamber. We intend to see to that.”

     

  • Dud Cheque: EFCC arraigns House Committee chairman

    Dud Cheque: EFCC arraigns House Committee chairman

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Tuesday arraigned the Chairman, House Committee on Internal Security, Hon. Aliyu Gebi , for issuing dud cheques of about N120.5 million, to his lender.

    Gebi is representing Bauchi Federal Constituency on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change.

    He was arraigned on a 13-count charge before Justice Abba Bello Muhammad of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, sitting in Apo, Abuja.

    The anti-graft agency accused him of issuing 13 dud cheques in favour of the complainant, Musty Petroleum Limited, an offence contrary to and punishable under section l(b) (i) of the Dishonoured Cheque (offences) Act, 2004 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.

    Specifically, the Accused issued the complainant posted- dated cheques from his United Bank For Africa (UBA) personal account and a company account named Craft Technology Limited with value of dates on 13/01/2012 and 12/01/12 respectively.

    The cheques were issued to cover an interest free loan of N125, 000, 000 repayable within a period of 60 days, which the company borrowed him.

    Upon lodging them into UBA account of Musty Petroleum Limited on 1/02/12, the cheques were returned unpaid due to insufficient funds in the drawer’s account.

    Gebi pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    Moving the bail application, the defence counsel, Babatunde Oyefeso, prayed the court to grant him bail on self-recognition.

    He informed the court that the accused had been enjoying the administrative bail granted him by the anti-graft agency.

    The prosecution counsel, Mohammed Bello, did not oppose the bail application.

    Confirming that the accused had deposited his diplomatic passport with the commission, he urged the court to note the gravity of the offence by imposing condition that will make him attend trial.