The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission today February 14, 2017 arraigned one Zaharaddeen Haruna before Justice Nuhu Yahaya Galadanci of the Kano State High Court on a five count charge of obtaining by false pretence and issuance of dud cheque.
The accused person who is a vice chairman of Agriculture and Allied Employees Union of Nigeria, allegedly awarded the complainant a contract for the supply of four hundred bags of rice at the total cost of N4,400,000 (Four Million, Four Hundred Thousand Naira Only) under the pretext that the product would be distributed to the staff of the Union as loan and that the said loan would be paid within three months from the beneficiaries’ salary account between September 2015 and November 2015. After the product was supplied by the complainant, the accused person jettisoned the agreement and issued the complainant three First City Monument Bank cheques in the sum of N1,400,000 (One Million, Four Hundred Thousand Naira only), all of which were returned unpaid on presentation due to lack of funds in the account.
When the charge was read to the accused person, he pleaded not guilty.
In view of the plea of the accused person, counsel for the prosecution Sa’ad Hanafi Sa’ad asked the court for a trial date and also asked that the accused person be remanded in prison custody. However, counsel for the accused person Musa Abubakar objected the prosecution’s application for remand. He submitted that the accused person has been on administrative bail granted by EFCC for nearly a year and has never jumped. Sa’ad on the other hand, informed the court that, contrary to the submission of the defence counsel that his client has never jumped bail, the accused person was actually arrested and brought to court for his arraignment because he had violated the administrative bail granted him by the commission. He further urged the court to order the defence counsel to apply formally so as to allow the prosecution to respond by way of affidavit and present facts why the accused person should not be granted bail.
Justice Galadanci agreed with the prosecution’s submission and ordered that the defence counsel present formal bail application before the court while the accused person was remanded in prison custody.
The case has been adjourned till 20th March, 2017 for hearing.
Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
