Lukman Olabiyi
Justice Sule Hassan of the Federal High Court, Lagos, has remanded three Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials in prison.
The accused were arraigned before the court for alleged laundering of N179.8 million.
The INEC’s officials, Yemi Akinwonmi, Dickson Atiba and Ogunmodede Oladejo, were arraigned before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Monday.
The accused will be in prison custody pending the hearing and determination of their respective bail applications by the court
They were docked on eight counts charge bordering on conspiracy, benefiting from crime proceeds, receiving cash sums without going through financial institutions and accepting cash exceeding amount authorised by the law.
The trio were accused of receiving the said money from various commercial banks sometime in March 2015, in the build-up to the year’s General Elections.
The offences contravened the provisions of Sections 15(2)(d), 16 (d) 1(a), 16 (1) (d),16 (d) and 18 (a)of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 as amended.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
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After their pleas, the Prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, urged the court to remand them in prison custody and issue a trial date.
Justice Hassan consequently adjourned the case until August 6 for hearing of the bail applications.
The court ordered that the accused be remanded in prison custody pending hearing of their motion for bail.