Alleged P&ID scam: Court to rule on Briton’s plea for bail variation on Friday

The Federal High Court, will, on Friday, November 22, ruled on the application for bail variation of James Nolan, a Briton, in Abuja.
Justice Okon Abang, who made this known, on Wednesday, also adjournment the continuation of trial in the suit filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission against Nolan until November 21.
News Agency of Nigeria reports that EFCC had, on October 21, arraigned Nolan and Adam Quinn (at large), both British nationals, over their alleged complicity in the 9.6 billion dollars judgment against Nigeria.
Process and Industrial Development, an Irish engineering company, had secured the award against Nigeria following the non-execution of a 20-year gas and supply processing agreement, the company had with the federal government.
The arraignment of the two British nationals is coming weeks after two P&ID directors were convicted over the deal.
The defendants, both directors of Goidel Resources Limited, a Designated Non-Financial Institution and ICIL Limited, were arraigned on a 16-count charge bordering on money laundering.
Justice Abang had, on November 7, admitted Nolan to a bail in the sum of N500 million.
The judge, who granted the bail in an application filed by Nolan, ordered that the applicant must produce “a surety in like sum, who must be a Nigerian and a serving senator not standing any criminal trial in any court in Nigeria.
Besides, he held that the proposed surety must submit a three years tax clearance certificate and sign an undertaking to always be present in court with the defendant throughout the duration of the trial.
“The senator must have a landed property fully developed in Maitama District of Abuja and fully certified by the FCDA.
“The surety must submit two passport photographs,” Abang had ruled.
Likewise, the court ordered the defendant to surrender all his international passports, even as it mandated the Nigerian Immigration Service to confirm how many passports that were issued to him within the past 20 years.
Earlier at the resumed trial on Wednesday, the EFCC’s Counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, had told Justice Abang that since the matter was slated for trial, the anti-graft agency was ready to commence the trial.
The lawyer told the court that he was in the court with two witnesses.
However, Counsel to the defendant, Paul Erokoro, SAN, told the court that he was not prepare for the commencement of trial due to inability to have adequate access to his client.
Erokoro told the court that he had already briefed the prosecution about the difficulty he faced in preparing for the trial.
He explained that Nolan was being held at Kuje Correctional Centre where they were allowed access to him twice a week.
According to him, and on each visit, we are allowed only 15 minutes.
The lawyer attributed this to the fact that there were lots of persons awaiting trial at the correctional center who all need to be visited by their counsel and families.
He said it was disheartening that all these persons received their visitors at once without any privacy, besides the time constraint.
“Again, the visitors are supervised by prison officers. So the time for proper communication is not there,” Erokoro said.
He lamented that the development had made it difficult for him to prepare for the trial.
The lawyer, who reminded the court about the application for bail variation before it, prayed the court to favourably grant the request to allow the defendant counsel have adequate time and facility for their defence.
“We therefore appeal for adjournment until your Lordship fix a date for hearing in the variation of bail application,” he said.
Opposing the request, the EFCC lawyer argued that though “the law provides facilities and time for a defendant, such facilities do not include that the defendant must be released on bail before he can brief his counsel”.