The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday reduced for the second time stringent bail conditions earlier granted a former national security adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki.
In a unanimous judgement, the three-man panel of the court expunged the requirement that Dasuki should produce a Level 16 civil servant who must own a property worth N100 million within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
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Dasuki filed the request at the court for a variation in the terms attached to the bail.
Justice Stephen Adah, in the lead judgment, ruled that it was wrong for courts to ask civil servants to stand as surety when bail was granted.
Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of a Federal High Court, Abuja had in 2018 granted Dasuki N200 million bail with two sureties.
The judge also held that the sureties must either be civil servants of grade level 16 in the federal civil service or private citizens who have landed properties in the municipal areas of Abuja.
However, the appeal court in June 2019 first reduced the bail condition from N200 million to N100 million, adding that Dasuki’s sureties must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court.
It also cancelled the condition that Dasuki’s sureties must submit evidence of tax payments for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017; and awarded N5 million damages against the Federal Government for the unlawful detention of Dasuki, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since December 29, 2015, despite series of court orders directing his release.
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The former NSA is facing 25 counts bordering on conspiracy, bribery, abuse of office and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N19.4 billion.
Alongside others, Dasuki is also facing 32-count charges bordering on criminal breach of trust, misappropriation, dishonest release and receiving of various sums of money to the tune of N33.3 billion.
