The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has formally arraigned Olu Agunloye, a former Minister of Power and Steel Development, on charges amounting to $6 billion fraud. The arraignment took place on Wednesday before Justice J.O Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Apo, Abuja.
Agunloye is facing seven counts related to the fraudulent award of contracts and allegations of official corruption during his tenure. One of the charges accuses him of awarding a contract titled “Construction of 3,960mw Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station on a Build, Operate and Transfer Basis” to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited without the necessary budgetary provision, approval, and cash backing. The prosecution claims that this act is a violation of Section 22(4) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
Another count alleges that on August 10, 2019, in Abuja, Agunloye corruptly received the sum of Three Million Six Hundred Thousand Naira (N3,600,000.00) through his Guaranty Trust Bank account from Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (SPTCL) and Leno Adesanya. The funds were purportedly linked to the conveyance of the “approval of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the construction of the 3,960 megawatts Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station.” The charges assert that Agunloye carried out this action without the required approval of the Federal Executive Council, contravening Section 8(1)(a) and (b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
Agunloye pleaded “not guilty” to all the charges. Following this, the prosecution counsel, Abba Muhammed, requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant in a Correctional Centre. In response, the defense counsel, Adola Adedipe, SAN, informed the court of a filed bail application and urged the court to grant bail and commit the defendant to the custody of the EFCC.
Justice Onwuegbuzie ruled that Agunloye be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre and scheduled Thursday, January 11, 2024, for a hearing on the bail application.
