A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja has granted bail to former Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku, in the sum of N150 million over an alleged N27 billion fraud charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Sylvanus Oriji, in his ruling on Thursday, granted Ishaku bail with two sureties in the same amount. One of the sureties must be a federal government employee of director level, and both must reside in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with their addresses verified by the Court Registrar. The court also restricted Ishaku and his co-defendant, Bello Yero, from travelling outside Nigeria without court permission.
The ruling came after EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), informed the court that the agency had previously granted the former governor administrative bail, which he had not violated. Consequently, the EFCC did not oppose the bail application.
Justice Oriji scheduled the trial to commence on November 4, 5, and 13. Ishaku, who served as Taraba State governor for eight years before leaving office in 2023, pleaded not guilty to the 15-count charge filed against him by the EFCC. The charges, marked CR/792/24 and dated September 27, list Ishaku and the former Permanent Secretary of the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Bello Yero, as defendants.
The EFCC accuses the two of diverting N1.01 billion between August 2015 and March 2016, funds that were part of a 2.5 percent contingency fund from the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. They allegedly committed offences in violation of Section 315 of the Penal Code A, Cap 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria 2007.
Other charges against Ishaku and Yero include diverting N1.13 billion from the same fund between July 2015 and May 2019. Additionally, the EFCC claims the defendants used N761 million to repay a loan of N1 billion obtained from Zenith Bank Plc. for their company, Worthy Construction Limited, between September 2015 and January 2018.
The charges also accuse Ishaku and Yero of criminal breach of trust, alleging that they diverted N3.35 billion from funds belonging to the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and Taraba’s Local Government Councils between July 2019 and February 2021.
Other sums allegedly misappropriated by the defendants include N650 million, N193 million, and N170 million, all part of contingency funds diverted between 2019 and 2021.
