P&ID Scam: Court remands Nigerian accomplice, Grace Taiga

Justice O.A. Adeniyi of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, sitting in Apo, Abuja on Friday, remanded a female accomplice in the multiple fraud involving P&ID, Mrs. Grace Taiga, in Suleja Prison.

A press statement by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) spokesperson Mr Wilson Uwujaren, Friday in Abuja, said Taiga was being prosecuted by the commission.

According to him, the accused, a former director in charge of legal services in the ministry of petroleum resources, was a key actor in the fraudulent Gas Supply and Processing Agreement (GSPA) between the federal government and P&ID.

He said Taiga, who was arraigned on an eight-count amended charges bordering on accepting bribes and other related crimes, allegedly used her position to administer undue favours to the company.

The spokesperson said she pleaded not guilty to all the charges and in view of her plea, the Prosecution Counsel, Bala Sanga, prayed the court for a trial date and for the defendant to be remanded in prison custody.

He said the Defence Counsel, Ola Olanipekun (SAN), however, made an oral bail application for the defendant, which Justice Adeniyi rejected, preferring that he filed a formal bail application.

The spokesperson said Olanipekun further told the court that the defendant had been in EFCC custody and was down with hypertension, praying that the defendant be remanded rather in the custody of the EFCC.

The prosecution counsel objected to the prayer and urged the court to discountenance the defendant’s claim of health challenges as there was no evidence or proof to it.

He also objected to the prayer for the defendant to be remanded in EFCC’s custody, arguing that the matter was now in court and that the Commission’s detention facility was congested.

Justice Adeniyi adjourned the matter till September 25, 2019 for trial and remanded the defendant in the Suleja Prison.

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