Justice Muslim Hassan of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday fixed September 17 for the trial of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman in Ondo State, Clement Faboyede.
The Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) arraigned Faboyede and the partyโs 2015 campaign director in the state, Modupe Tokunbo, for alleged money laundering.
The Commission accused the duo of receiving N500million in cash from Owolanke Michael ahead of the 2015 general election.
Faboyede was accused of making N500million cash payment to the Ondo PDP Election Committee.
Prosecuting counsel, Eโkene Iheanacho, said the defendants committed the offence on March 27, 2015.
The alleged offence contravenes Section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 and is liable to punishment under Section 16(2) of the same Act.
They pleaded not guilty on June 29 and were remanded in prison pending ruling on their bail application.
Ruling on Thursday, Justice Hassan held that the alleged offence was one for which bail could be granted.
โThe sole issue for determination is whether or not the defendants are entitled to bail pending trial bearing in mind that the essence of bail is to ensure the attendance of the defendants for their trial.
โThe defendants were arraigned before this court on a three-count charge of conspiracy and money laundering.
โAccording to the provisions of the Money Laundering Act, the punishment for the offence is a jail term of not less than two years or an option of fine.
โI am in agreement with the defence lawyer that the alleged offence is bailable,โ the judge ruled.
Justice Hassan faulted the grounds upon which the prosecution opposed the bail application.
He added: โThe prosecution cannot oppose bail merely on routine procedure. There must be a cogent reason for opposing bail.
โThe allegations against the defendants remain mere allegations until it is decided one way or the other by the court.
โIn arriving at the decision whether to grant or refuse bail, it is my duty as a judicial officer to balance the interests of the state, defendants and that of the general public in coming to a judicious conclusion.
โIn doing this, I am of the view that the judicious discretion in the circumstance of this case is to grant bail to the defendants.
โMore so, the defendants/applicants were earlier granted bail by the prosecution prior to their arraignment and there is no evidence to show that they jumped the bail.
โHaving regard to the foregoing, the defendants/ applicantsโ application for bail succeeds and bail is hereby granted.โ
The judge granted them bail in the sum of N50million each with one surety in like sum.
The sureties, said the judge, must either be federal or state civil servants not below level 15 or landed property owners within the courtโs jurisdiction.
The sureties were directed to deposit the title documents and two passport sized photographs each at the courtโs registry.
The defendants were also ordered to deposit their international passports at the courtโs registry while the prosecution was given a week to verify the suretiesโ documents.
