Court Remands Air Force Chief in Prison over N166m Contractor’s Bribe; Reps Walk Out Maritime Academy Officials over Misappropriation

A high court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting in Apo, Abuja, on Thursday, ordered the remand of the Chief of Training and Operations of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Olutayo Oguntoyinbo, in Kuje Prison, pending the hearing of his bail application slated for June 6.

According to the Punch, Justice Olukayode Adeniyi gave the order of remand shortly after Oguntoyinbo pleaded not guilty to the one count of accepting N166m gift from a NAF contractor, Société D’ Equipment Internationaux Nigeria Limited. He allegedly accepted the bribe from the contractor using the account of his company, Spaceweb Integrated Services Limited, kept with Wema Bank Plc.

After he was arraigned on Thursday, Oguntoyinbo’s lawyer, Mr Henry Ohun, applied for his bail. The prosecutor, Mr Francis Jirbo, however, opposed the bail application and the request by the defence counsel for the remand of the accused person in Air Force custody.

Justice Adeniyi agreed with the prosecutor and ordered the remand of the defendant in Kuje prison. He thereafter adjourned the hearing of the bail application till June 6.

Meanwhile, the house of representatives committee on Maritime Safety and Education on Thursday alleged that the budget proposal for this year submitted by the management of the Maritime Academy, Oron, Akwa Ibom State, for considerations contained fictitious items in both its recurrent and capital expenditure in the 2016 budget.

Vanguard reports that the lawmakers raised eyebrows as rector of the academy, Engr Anthony Ishiodu, and his management team made presentations for the defence of their 2015 budget and consideration of the 2016 proposal.

A member of the Committee, Dan Asuquo, who represents Akamkpa/Biase federal constituency of Cross River State (PDP), said:

“It’s amazing how fraud goes on in the maritime sector. On page 21 of this document, a N34million contract was given under the capital expenditure for the construction of a building in the school and this House in the 7th Assembly fought very hard to effect releases for the project.

“I have it on good authority that no payment has been made to the contractor despite the funds released in 2015, but here we are with a record showing that N20 million has been paid, leaving the balance of N14 milion. This is fraud. A clear case of misappropriation and corruption because no single dime has been paid on the said project.”

The committee also discovered alleged fraudulent allocation of N100million for the purchase of two units of generators which already existed in the 2015 budget and for which the sum of N266 million had been proposed as maintenance fee, alongside vehicles in the same budget.

The rector and his team were subsequently walked out for their inability to defend the propositions.