By Ahmed Rufa’i, Dutse
The federal high court sitting in Dutse Jigawa state capital has fixed 24 and 25 of February 2022 for hearing in the N36b corruption charges brought against the former Jigawa state governor, Senator Ibrahim Saminu Turaki
Report from the state indicated that Senator Saminu Turaki’s trial resumed at a federal high court in Dutse, after years of evading arrest by security agents.
Mr Turaki was earlier arrested and arreigned by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) on 32-count charge.
The former governor was arrested and arraigned by the EFCC before Justice Binta Murtala Nyako of the Federal Capital Territory High Court on July 13, 2007 on a 32-count charge of misappropriating N36 billion while in office.
Senator Ibrahim Saminu Turaki was remanded at Kuje maximum prison until he was granted bail in the sum of N100 million with two federal legislators, Bawa Bwari and Bashir Adamu, who stood in as his sureties.
In 2011, the case was transferred to the Federal High Court, Dutse after the accused successfully challenged the jurisdiction of the FCT division of the court. He was subsequently re-arraigned on the same 32-count charge in the Federal High Court Dutse the state capital where the court maintained his earlier bail by Abuja Court.
It was reported that he jumped the bail and disappeared until 2017 when he appeared at the venue of a public presentation of a book on Zakariya Maimalari, ‘the first regular combatant officer in the Nigerian Army’ where the operatives of the Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) rearrested him.
The case resumed in Dutse on 7th of December 2021 after years of failing to appear before the court to defend himself.
The 10-page long 32-count charge in case no. FHC/ABJ/CR/86/2007 was signed by Isa Gafai of the Legal and Prosecution Unit of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
A new judge, Justice Hassan Dikko, was reassigned to take over the case which was formerly being handled by Justice S. Yahuza before the latter’s retirement early December.
However, the defendant, Turaki, pleaded not guilty to the 32-count charge which was started afresh on the December 7.
The judge, Mr Dikko, adjourned the matter to 24-25, February, 2022 for hearing of the case.