A Federal High Court in Abuja Tuesday granted bail to former Head of Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye, and Osarenkhoe Afe, his co-accused in a N1.9billion fraud case.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole, before whom they are standing trial on a 24-count charge, granted them bail after listening to arguments on their applications.
While the judge granted Oronsaye bail on self-recognition, Afe got his reprieve at N50million and two sureties in the same amount.
One of the sureties must be a civil servant of Grade Level 16 and must have property worth N75m within Abuja.
Kolawole ordered that both Oronsaye and Afe must deposit their passports and other travel documents with the court registrar.
The judge had, upon the accused persons arraignment on July 13 asked them to file formal bail applications and released them to their lawyers, who were asked to write an undertaken to produce them in court for hearing of their bail applications.
While the lead prosecution lawyer opposed Afe’s bail application, he did not oppose that of Oronsaye because the judge was disposed to granting him bail having earlier released him after his arraignment.
Afe is the Managing Director of Fredrick Hamilton Global Services Limited, a company named as the third accused in the charge preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The accused are charged with committing procurement fraud in 2010 under the pretext of using the various sums of money, illegally withdrawn from the Federal Government’s account, for “biometric data capturing project”.
The offences were allegedly committed when Oronsaye was Head of Service between 2009 and 2010 and said to be contrary to provisions of section 14(1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act and section 1(1) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and other related offences Act.
Oronsaye, 64, was appointed the Head of the Nigerian Civil Service in 2009.
