A former Director, Pension Accounts, in the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Shaibu Teidi who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for defrauding the Head of Service pension accounts to the tune of N18.3million is to remain in Kuje Prison where he was remanded upon arraignment on June 7, 2013.
Teidi was arraigned alongside Udusegbe Eric Omoefe and their companies on a twenty two count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretence, conspiracy to commit fraud and concealing the illicit origin of stolen pension funds. They were remanded pending hearing of their bail applications.
However at the resumed hearing today, July 1, 2013, Justice Adeniyi Ademola said he could not rule on the bail application brought by the 1st accused person (Teidi), in view of the petition by the defendant to the Chief Justice of the Federation, alleging that the court was bias in the handling of his case.
“By law, when there is allegation of bias against a judicial officer, a matter can’t proceed, all proceedings has to be suspended until the allegations are cleared”, Justice Ademola said.
He thereafter adjourned the case sine die, (indefinitely), leaving counsel to the accused, Mr. Sunday Ameh (SAN) in shock. Ameh said he was stunned by the development as he has no knowledge that his client had written such petition to the Chief Justice.
In a related development, Aliyu Bello, a former special assistant to the Director of Administration (Pension Accounts) at the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation and Abdullahi Omeiza, a Sokoto school teacher, standing trial for criminal conversion and obtaining over N1billion naira under false pretences in another pension fraud case have been admitted to bail.
The accused were granted bail in the sum of Three Hundred and Sixty Six Million Naira (N366, 000,000) each and a surety in like sum.
The case has been adjourned to 14, 15 and 16 of October, 2013 for commencement of trail.
