An Abuja High Court has ordered the release of Abiodun Agbele, an aide to the Ekiti State governor, Ayodele Fayose, on bail in the sum of N50milion.
The court also asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to pay Agbele N5 million as damages.
Agbele was arrested by the EFCC in Lagos on June 27 over his alleged role in the the handling of over N1.2bn on behalf of Fayose during the Ekiti State governorship election in 2014. He had been in detention since then.
Justice Olukayode Adeniyi in a ruling on the suspect’s bail application on Thursday declared that the continued detention of the suspect without being charged to court and without the backing of any competent remand order, amounted to a “gross violation” of his right.
The judge held that the order of remand obtained by the EFCC from a Magistrate’s Court in Ogba, Lagos, on June 30, 2016, to keep the suspect in custody for 14 days, had “dissolved” upon transferring him (Agbele) to Abuja on July 1. Justice Adeniyi ruled that the remand order issued by Magistrate’s Court in Lagos was no longer binding immediately Agbele was transferred to Abuja which was outside the jurisdiction of the Lagos court.
