ABUJA – Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday, remanded the immediate past Interior Minister, Abba Moro, in Kuje prison, Abuja, till tomorrow, Wednesday, the March 2, 2016, when his bail application would be heard.
He was arraigned alongside F. O Alayebami, a deputy director in the ministry, one Mahmood Ahmadu (currently at-large), the contracting firm given the recruitment job, Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd, and permanent secretary of the ministry at the time, Anastasia Daniel-Nwobia.
The court however, released one Mrs. Daniel-Nwobia on administrative bail for being a nursing mother, to enable her attend to her baby.
The accused persons are standing for an 11-count charge, bordering on obtaining by false pretence, false procurement, fraud and money laundering in the botched March 15, 2014 immigration recruitment exercise that killed no fewer than 20 job seekers across the country.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned accused the defendants of defrauding 676,675 Nigerian applicants of N676,675,000 (Six Hundred and Seventy Six Million, Six Hundred and Seventy Five Thousand Naira).
Each of the 676,675 applicants was charged N1,000 for participating in the recruitment exercise.
The anti-graft agency is also accusing the defendants of flouting the Public Procurement Act, No. 65 of 2007 in the award of the contract for the organisation of the recruitment test to Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd.
The EFCC said Drexel EFCC had no prior advertisement and no needs assessment and procurement plan was carried out before the contract was awarded.
According to the anti-graft agency, the contract was awarded through selective tendering procedure by invitation of 4 (Four) firms without seeking the approval of the Bureau for Public Procurement, contrary to sections 40, 42 and 43 of the Public Procurement Act, No. 65 of 2007 and punishable under section 58 of the same act.
Drexel is also alleged to be unregistered and had no legal capacity to enter into the said contract.
There is also said to be no budgetary provision for the exercise in the 2014 Federal Capital budget hence the applicants were made to bear the responsibility of funding the project without approval of the Board contrary to section 22(5) of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Act 2000, the charge said.
