The former Chief of Staff to former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Bala Mohammed, Muhammed Yau Gital was on Monday arraigned before an FCT High Court in Gudu by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on 10-count of N192m fraud.
Other accused persons arraigned alongside Gital included his former Special Assistant as Chief of Staff to the minister, Shuaibu Yakubu; the Managing Director of Jibmir Ventures Nigeria Limited, and the company itself.
Gital, who was also a member of the Land Allocation Committee, Federal Capital Territory Administration, allegedly conspired with Yakubu, and Tahir to obtain money from various unsuspecting persons under the pretext of using the money for processing and facilitation of land allocation by the FCDA.
All the accused persons pleaded not guilty to all the counts when they were taken before Justice Abubakar Talba on Monday.
One of the counts read, “That you, Yau Mohammed Gital, being the Chief of Staff to the Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and member of the Land Allocation Committee, Federal Capital Territory Administration, Shuaibu Yakubu, being a former Special Assistant to the former Chief of Staff, Jibril M. Tahir, being the Managing Director of Jibmir Ventures Nigeria Limited and Jibmir Ventures Nigeria Limited sometimes between September 2012 to March 2014 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, with intent to defraud, conspired to do an illegal act, to wit: obtain monies by false pretences from various unsuspecting persons under the false pretence that the said monies was for the processing/facilitation of land allocation by the Federal Capital Development Authority which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8 (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.”
The accused persons’ counsel, Nura Imam, applied for his client’s bail after they pleaded not guilty to the charges.
But Justice Bello ordered the accused to be remanded in prison custody pending ruling on the bail application. The further hearing on the matter comes up on July 2.