A Kaduna State High Court has denied bail to Muhammad Bashir Sa’idu, the former Chief of Staff to Nasir el-Rufa’i, the immediate-past governor of the State, in a money-laundering case filed against him.
The court delivered its ruling yesterday, refusing the bail application principally on the grounds that a formal charge had been filed at the Kaduna State High Court II against Sa’idu.
According to the Kaduna State Director of Public Prosecution, Samson Irimiya, “The bail application ruling was delivered refusing the bail application principally on the grounds that since a formal charge had been filed by us, it is better that the applicant goes to the court where the charge is filed and pending to apply for bail”.
Sa’idu’s counsel, Oladipo Tolani, (SAN), also confirmed that the court directed them to take the bail application to the court where the proper charges have been filed.
The former Chief of Staff is accused of selling $45m in hard currency belonging to the Kaduna State Government, equivalent to ₦18.4bn, at a significantly undervalued rate of ₦410 per dollar instead of the parallel market rate of ₦498 per dollar, resulting in an ₦3.9bn loss to the Government in 2022.
The prosecution further alleged that the ₦3.9 billion discrepancy was laundered by Sa’idu, in violation of Section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Sa’idu’s arraignment is scheduled for January 21, 2025, before Hon. Justice Isa Aliyu.
The Kaduna State House of Assembly had also indicted el-Rufai’s government for allegedly syphoning State Government funds to the tune of over ₦423bn.
