Former Minister of Aviation and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Femi Fani-Kayode has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over corruption and fraud allegations.
Africa Today News, New York gathered that he was arrested at a Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, and moved to a nearby EFCC office.
The former minister, who was in court over his forgery trial, was walking out after the matter was adjourned till January 24, 2021, when he was approached by an EFCC investigator who was apparently acting on instructions to arrest the Abuja based politician.
He was subsequently arrested and moved to custody, a week after his earlier arrest.
An EFCC investigator, Mr Shehu Shuaibu, said the ex-Minister of Aviation was being quizzed over false documents.
The anti-graft agency had preferred a 17-count charge of ₦4.6billion money laundering against Fani-Kayode alongside a former Minister of State for Finance, Nenandi Usman.
Read Also: Forgery: EFCC Quizzes Femi Fani-Kayode
Also charged were Yusuf Danjuma, a former Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and a company, Jointrust Dimentions Nigeria Ltd.
The accused who were arraigned before Justice Mohammed Aikawa of a Federal High Court in Lagos had pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail.
Trial had began before Justice Aikawa and witnesses were still being led in evidence, until Aikawa was transferred out of the Lagos division.
The charge was subsequently assigned to a new judge, Justice Daniel Osaigor, and the defendants were scheduled for re-arraignment on October 13, 2021.
But on the said adjourned date, Fani-Kayode was absent from court, and defence counsel, who appeared on his behalf on the said day, told the court that he was on admission at Kubwa General hospital in Abuja.
He had prayed for an adjournment on that grounds on behalf of the second defendant but, EFCC prosecutor, Mrs Bilikisu Buhari, informed the court that the defendant was fond of adopting same tactics whenever he does not want to attend court.
After going through the court’s records, Justice Osiagor noted that it was clear that the defendant had issued similar letter of excuses five times earlier.
The court had consequently ordered the defendant to be present in court on the next date without fail.
The court also ordered him to pay a fine of ₦200,000 in addition.
It was after the adjournment that Fani-Kayode was arrested.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK