A former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode has again been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,(EFCC), over an alleged document falsification.
He had been questioned on the same accusation at the Lagos office of the Commission last week.
The re-arrest on Tuesday occurred at the Federal High Court, Lagos after the politician finished a hearing on alleged money laundering charges which is before Justice Daniel Osiagor.
As soon as the case was adjourned until January 24, 2022 and the defendants stepped out of court, an EFCC investigator, Shehu Shuaibu and the agency’s prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo walked up to Mr Fani-Kayode.
And after some discussions, the defendant entered his vehicle and followed the EFCC operatives to their office.
Earlier in the day, all the defendants in the trial had appeared before the judge. They are, Mr Fani-Kayode alongside a former Minister of State for Finance, Nenadi Usman, as well as Yusuf Danjuma, who was the Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and a company, Jointrust Dimentions Nigeria Ltd.
But, trial couldn’t proceed due to the absence of defence counsel, Ferdinand Orbih, representing the First defendant, Mrs Usman.
The prosecutor, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo did not oppose the request for adjournment but, told the judge that the EFCC had recently discovered that all the medical reports of hospitals including the Kubwa General Hospital in Abuja, previously presented by Mr Fani-Kayode to stall his trial on health grounds, were allegedly fake.
Justice Osiagor held that it was a matter the agency ought to have thrashed out before the court acted on the letters to grant an adjournment, as the court had become functus officio, having performed its function on the matter.
In response, Oyedepo told the court that the agency was currently acting on the report.
The Anti graft Agency preferred the 17-count charge of alleged money laundering totaling N4.6 billion against the defendants in 2016 before Justice Muslim Hassan, who has now been elevated to the Court of Appeal. But, the case was transferred from his court after the defendants alleged the judge could be biased as he was formerly a legal officer with the EFCC.
A second judge, Mohammed Aikawa was then assigned the case in 2017 but midway into the trial, he was transferred out of the Lagos division of the court.
The charge was consequently, assigned to a new judge, Justice Daniel Osaigor, and the defendants were re-arraigned on October 13, 2021.
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