By Adedapo Adesanya
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday ordered the remand of a former Minister of Power and Steel as well as Minister of Defence, Mr Olu Agunloye, in Kuje Correctional Service.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Mr Agunloye over allegations of fraud in the Mambilla Power Project.
Mr Agunloye was brought before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges read against him.
The judge, Justice Donatus Okorowu, however, ordered that the embattled former minister be remanded pending when bail would be granted.
The anti-graft agency declared Mr Agunloye wanted in connection with an alleged N6 billion scam involving the contentious Mambilla hydropower project.
Mr Agunloye was a minister under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government (1999-2003).
He was accused by Obasanjo of illegally awarding the project’s contract without the Federal Executive Council’s consent but Mr Agunloye has since denied the allegation and claimed the former president was distorting facts.
The ex-minister was arrested and taken into custody on December 13. The EFCC had earlier declared him wanted, saying: “The public is hereby notified that Olu Agunloye, whose photograph appears above, is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in an alleged case of corruption and forgery.”
On December 21, the EFCC granted an administrative bail to the former Minister of Power and Steel. He was released on self-recognizance, telling him to be available whenever he was needed in the course of the investigation.
