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At last, Iyabo Obasanjo faces the law

Posted by From GODWIN TSA, Abuja on 2008/05/20 | Views: 607 |

At last, Iyabo Obasanjo faces the law


Embattled chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello on Monday was arraigned before an Abuja High Court over allegations of corruption. The court ordered that she should be remanded in police custody until May 21 after her application for bail was denied.

Embattled chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello on Monday was arraigned before an Abuja High Court over allegations of corruption. The court ordered that she should be remanded in police custody until May 21 after her application for bail was denied.

The daughter of ex-president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has in the past few weeks engaged in a hide-and-seek game with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which had sought her arrest over alleged involvement in the N300 million unspent fund in the Health ministry.

Justice Salisu Garuba turned down her oral application for bail on the ground that it was not formally before the court. He said granting Iyabo bail on oral application would amount to double standard since the other accused persons were earlier denied bail.

The court therefore ordered that Iyabo Obasanjo should be remanded in the custody of the EFCC.
However, counsel to Iyabo Obasanjo, Mr Joy Akomolafe from Afe Babalola Chambers prayed the court that Iyabo Obasanjo be remanded in police custody.
He expressed fears that Iyabo would not be safe in the hands of the EFCC which he claimed has been threatening her life and that of her household. Accordingly, the court ordered that the beleaguered senator be detained in the custody of the police at Maitaina in Abuja.

Earlier, Iyabo Obasanjo had pleaded not guilty to the two count charges against her. Her appearance in court on Monday was a surprise as the court had earlier ruled that she should be brought on Wednesday.

The EFCC had last week prayed the court to issue a bench warrant against the fleeing senator to compel her to attend Monday's session. The anti-graft agency had raised an alarm in the open court that Iyabo Obasanjo was seeking to delay determination of her application challenging the competence of the changes preferred against her in order to frustrate her arraignment on Monday alongside 12 others.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Health was accused of holding on to N10 million of the N300 million unspent fund shared by top officials of the Ministry of Health, early this year. She, however, argued that the money was collectively spent by members of her committee on an official trip to Ghana.
Former Health Minister, Professor Adenike Grange, former Minister of State in the ministry, Mr Gabriel Aduku as well as some top directors in the ministry have lost their jobs on account of their involvement in the scam. They are also being prosecuted by the EFCC.

Iyabo Obasanjo has, however, been evading arrest. In the past few weeks, she went underground and abandoned her duties at the upper chamber of the National Assembly. Several Nigerians have since called on the EFCC to show more seriousness in fishing her out of her hideout, even as many others have urged the electorate in her constituency to order her recall from the National Assembly.

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