Lagos Businessman Gets N500m Bail Over Alleged Graft To Police
An Abuja Federal high court sitting in Maitama has granted N500 million bail to Akintoye Akindele, a Lagos businessman accused of offering an N50m bribe to police personnel.
Justice Muazu admitted Akindele, the Managing Director of Duport Midstream Company Lld, to bail at N500m, with two sureties in like sum, upon agreement with the defence lawyer, Henry Eni-Otu that the offence, with which the defendant was charged, is ordinarily bailable.
He, however, in the ruling on Tuesday, rejected the request by Simon Lough SAN, the Prosecuting Lawyer to further detain the defendant to enable the police to conclude the investigation.
One of the sureties must own a landed property within the jurisdiction and should be a resident of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The judge ordered the defendant to deposit his international passport with the court.
Justice Muazu, who is sitting as the court’s vacation judge, also ordered the return of the case file to the Chief Judge for reassignment.
This is because it will be impossible to conclude the case during the vacation, which will soon end, and better to return the case file to the court’s Chief Judge for reassignment to a regular court after the vacation.
Akindele, who has been in police custody for weeks, was arraigned on Tuesday on a one-count charge, marked: CR/595/2023 filed in the name of the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
The prosecution claimed the defendant offered to bribe policemen, who were investigating a case of funds diversion brought against him, to enable him to escape abroad.
Akindele denied the prosecution’s claim by pleading not guilty when the charge was read to him, following which his lawyer applied for bail.
The charge reads: “That you Akintoye Akindele, male (49 years), MD/CEO of Duport Midstream Company Limited of D2 Mambilla Close Osborne Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos between 5th and 9th August 2023 in Abuja, while being investigated by SP Ibrahim Ezekiel Sini and his team on a petition submitted to the Inspector General of Police FIB by Summit Oil International Limited on allegation of diversion of the sum of $5,636,397.01 and N73,543,763.25, you offered gratification of N150,000,000.00 and made part payment of N50,000,000.00 to SP Ibrahim Sini, a public servant in circumstance and to allow you to escape abroad and to write a report in your favour.”
The prosecution claimed the alleged offence is punishable under Section 118 of the Penal Code Law.
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