Alleged N27bn fraud: Abuja court grants ex-Taraba Gov Ishaku N150m bail
A bail of N150 million has been granted to the former governor of Taraba state, Darius Ishaku, by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja in the alleged fraud of N27 billion.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has granted former governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku, bail of N150 million in the alleged fraud case valued at N27 billion.
The Informant247 gathered that the court, led by Justice Sylvanus Chinedu Oriji, while granting the former governor the bail, asked him to produce two sureties in like sum.
The judge further ordered that the two sureties must be federal government employees and one must be a director, adding that the two sureties must be residents in the FCT with their house addresses to be verified by the court’s registrar.
The judge also barred Ishaku and his co-defendant, Yero, from travelling out of the country without the court’s permission.
The court made the orders after the defence lawyers, Paul Haris Ogbole (SAN) and Oluwa Damilola Kayode, both representing Ishaku and Yero, respectively, made oral bail applications, informing the court that they were already on administrative bail.
Counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Court (EFCC), Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), did not oppose the bail request of the former governor after he had earlier insisted on formal application rather than orally.
Justice Oriji fixed November 4, 5 and 13 for the trial.
The Informant247 had earlier reported that Darius Ishaku, the immediate past governor of Taraba state, was last week Friday, arrested by the Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged N27bn fraud.
Ishaku’s arrest is coming on the heels of an ongoing face-off between the commission and the former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, who was said to have stolen N80.2bn.
The two-term governor, who left in 2023 after spending 8 years, was arrested at his Abuja residence in the early hours of Friday.
It was gathered that at least 15-count charges had been filed against Ishaku, and he would be arraigned in court soon as evidence against him had been compiled.
“Yes, he’s in our custody right now. We have been investigating him covertly since he left as the State governor. There a lot of financial malfeasance he perpetrated,” the source told Weekend Trust.
Another source said he was detained after he could not provide satisfactory explanations for the financial impropriety under his watch.
However, the spokesperson of the anti-graft agency, Dele Oyewale, when contacted, confirmed the development but declined further comments.
