P&ID $9.6bn Judgment: Court Remands Govt Official In Prison

The former Director, Legal Services of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Grace Taiga, has been remanded in prison by the Apo Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja, on Friday, over an alleged connection with the controversial P&ID $9.6bn judgment.

Justice Olukayode Adeniyi ordered that the former government official be remanded in the Suleja Prison in Niger State.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty to the eight counts filed against her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The judge subsequently fixed September 25 for the hearing of her bail application.

Naija News had earlier reported that the commission accused her of among other charges, receiving bribe through her offshore bank account for signing, alongside the then Minister of Petroleum Resources, the late Rilwan Lukman, the Gas Supply Processing Agreement between the Process and Industrial Developments Limited and the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Ministry on January 11, 2019.

She was also accused of violating various laws by entering into the GSPA without prior approval by the Federal Executive Council and a certificate of no objection to the contract from the Bureau of Public Enterprise.

It was reported that Taiga signed as Nigeria’s witness to the GSPA while the then minister presiding over the ministry, the late Dr. Rilwan Lukman, signed as Nigeria’s representative.

Taiga’s lawyer, Ola Olanipekun, had told the could that her client was suffering from hypertension and diabetes and pleaded with the court to allow her to be remanded in the custody of the EFCC.

The request was opposed by the EFCC’s lawyer, Bala Sanga, insisting that her proper place of custody after arraignment was the prison.

The judge agreed with the prosecuting counsel and ordered her remand in prison.

He, however, added that she should be accorded proper medical treatment in custody pending the hearing and determination of her bail application.