Court grants Shehu Sani bail over allegation of extortion
- Outspoken former Kaduna lawmaker Shehu Sani has been granted bail by a Federal High Court
- Recall that Shehu Sani has been in EFCC detention over alleged bribery charges
- Sani has however pleaded not guilty to the charges
Senator Shehu Sani has been granted bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja, Channels TV reports.
The outspoken former lawmaker was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on charges of bribery and advance free fraud.
Sani has been in the custody of the anti-graft commission since December 2019 when he was arrested.
Sani, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges on Monday, January 27, during his arraignment.
The bail granted him was however with two conditions.
First, the bail was in the sum of N10 million and a surety that must be a responsible citizen with landed property within the court’s jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that Suleiman Ahmed, a senior special adviser to Sani, said the EFCC froze the bank accounts belonging to the former senator who represented Kaduna Central.
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Revealing this on Sunday, January 12, to journalists, Ahmed also disclosed that the EFFC asked Sani to declare his assets, The Cable reports.
In opposition to the move by the anti-graft agency, the former senator's aide expressed shock as to why the commission was yet to arrest Sani’s accuser, who according to him, admitted to giving bribe.
Added to this, the aide wondered why the EFCC has not summoned Alhaji Samaila Isa Funtua who was named in the allegation against his principal.
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He questioned: “Orilade, what is the connection between allegations of extortion of $25,000 and then searching his residence, blocking his accounts and forcing him to declare his assets?”
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the EFCC had insisted that Sani had questions to answer despite the outright denial of the former federal lawmaker over the allegations against him.
Sani is in the EFCC custody for allegedly extorting one Alhaji Sani Dauda, a businessman of the sum of $24,000 (N8.6 million) under the guise of influencing the latter’s (Dauda’s) cases with the EFCC.
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Source: Legit.ng