The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), has arraigned one Hanrrietta Okojie, an official of the Account and Finance Department of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), before an Abuja Federal High Court, over her alleged role in a N1.85 billion fraud.
ICPC docked the defendant on four counts before Justice Emeka Nwite.
Her arrangement came about a week after ICPC arraigned another agency official, Usman Kwakwa, on similar charges before the same judge.
The massive fraud was allegedly perpetrated by some officials at the agency last year.
ICPC’s lawyer, Osuobeni Akponimisingha, informed the court at Friday’s proceedings that the matter was scheduled for Ms Okojie to take her plea.
Before her plea was taken, the prosecutor applied for the June 6 bench warrant issued against the defendant be vacated, since she was in court on Friday. The judge, Mr Nwite, granted the request.
Ms Okojie pleaded not guilty to all the charges read to her.
Upon her not guilty plea, the prosecutor, Mr Akponimisingha, applied for a trial date.
But Ms Okojie’s lawyer, Ishiaku Garba, told the court that a bail application had been filed and served on the prosecution on June 11.
Mr Akponimisingha said though the defence served the application on his office on Tuesday, he only saw it on Thursday and would need time to respond.
“My lord, on June 12 was a public holiday, and I couldn’t have come to the office,” he said.
He said he should be allowed to respond in the interest of fair hearing,
The judge agreed that the prosecution should be given time to respond to the bail plea.
The judge, while adjourning the matter to June 20, for hearing of the defendant’s bail application, and fixed July 10, for trial, ordered that the defendant be remanded in in Suleja Correctional Centre.
Justice Nwite had, on 6 June, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Okojie, Musa Karaye and Emmanuel Pada for their failure to appear in court for their arraignment.
The judge gave the order after Mr Akponimisingha moved an oral application.
He then fixed Ms Okojie’s matter until today (Friday) for ICPC to produce her in court. The court also fixed Karaye’s and Panda’s cases for 13 June (Thursday).
The ICPC had filed separate cases of four charges each against the affected officials, including Usman Ahmed Kwakwa, over allegations of misappropriation of public funds meant to provide electricity to rural communities across the country.
In the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/203/24, ICPC accused Ms Okojie in count one that sometime in March 2023 she, with intent to defraud the REA, received the sum of N342 million in different tranches through her Access Bank Account: 0009022275 under the false pretence of project supervision.
The offence is said to be contrary to Section 1(1)(a) and punishable under section 1(3) of the Advance Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
The total amount allegedly received fraudulently by all the defendats was about N1.85 billion.
Sources-: Premium Times/NAN
