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Ahmed Dikko, former managing director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), has pleaded not guilty to a 12-count money laundering charge filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Dikko was arraigned before Inyang Ekwo, judge of a federal high court in Abuja, on Wednesday alongside a company, Masterpiece Projects & Investment Ltd, the second defendant in the case.
The EFCC alleged, among other counts, that the former PHRC MD used about N218.4 million to acquire a property in Katampe extension in Abuja, without passing the funds through a financial institution, contrary to the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
At the commencement of proceedings, Ekele Iheanacho, counsel to the EFCC, informed the court that the matter was slated for the defendants to take their plea.
Dikko pleaded not guilty to all 12 counts, while Ikechukwu Ajunwa, counsel to the defendants, entered a not guilty plea on behalf of the company.
Following the arraignment, the prosecution asked the court to fix a date for trial.
Ajunwa thereafter moved an application seeking bail for Dikko, arguing that his client had complied with the conditions of the administrative bail earlier granted by the EFCC and would not interfere with the trial or jump bail.
The application was opposed by the prosecution, which urged the court to refuse the request, relying on a counter-affidavit and written address filed before the court.
In his ruling, Ekwo held that bail is a constitutional right and that sufficient grounds must be established before it can be denied.
The judge admitted Dikko to bail in the sum of N150 million with one surety in like sum.
He held that the surety must own landed property within the jurisdiction of the court, submit the title documents for verification by the court registrar, and be a responsible citizen.
The court also ordered Dikko to deposit his international passport and barred him from travelling outside the country without its permission.
Ekwo adjourned the case to October 12, October 13 and October 14 for the commencement of trial.
The arraignment comes about two weeks after the EFCC filed separate charges against Dikko and Jimoh Yisawu, former managing director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), over the alleged diversion of funds released for the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.
The anti-graft agency accused Dikko of receiving and retaining funds from contractors engaged by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, concealing the source of some of the money through third parties and carrying out transactions that allegedly breached the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The commission also alleged that he made a cash payment of about N218.4 million for a property in Abuja and converted $77,080 through a third party.
The charges are part of the EFCC’s ongoing investigation into the alleged diversion of funds approved for the rehabilitation and turnaround maintenance of the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries. The commission has said the probe has so far led to the recovery of more than N9.4 billion, $21.2 million and several landed properties.
