BREAKING NEWS: Court grants Badeh N2bn bail

Justice Okon Abang of the federal high court, Abuja, has granted Alex Badeh, former chief of defence staff, bail in the sum N2bn, and two sureties in the sum N1bn each. According to the judge, the sureties must reside in Abuja. Badeh is also required to deposit his international passport at the court. While delivering his ruling, Abang held that the alleged offence is a bailable one, and that Badeh was presumed innocent until he otherwise proved. However, he added that conditions of the bail were influenced by the weight of the charges. Samuel Zibiri, counsel to Badeh, told the court that his client is a “perfect gentleman”, and that he had not “misconducted” himself anyway. He said that the EFCC had granted Badeh administrative bail on two occasions, but that he could not meet the bail conditions. The counsel told the court that the former defence chief had no criminal record in his 35 years of service. He also argued that offence his client was alleged to have committed was a bailable one. He, therefore, urged the court to grant the accused person bail on self-recognition just as Justice Anwuli Chikere of the federal high court, Abuja, did for Abba Moro, former minister of interior, who is facing criminal charges for allegedly scamming job seekers. Making his submission, Rotimi Jacobs, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), asked the court to refuse the bail request, and order an accelerated hearing of the case. He argued that the evidence against the defendant was strong, revealing that from a property owned by Badeh, the EFCC discovered $1m in cash, hence “he might want to jump bail in order not face this shame”

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