A former National Security Adviser, retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki; a former Minister of State for Finance, Mallam Bashir Yuguda; a former Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, and three others have denied allegations of diversions, misappropriation and breech of public trust in respect of N19.4 billion criminal charges brought against them by the Federal Government.
The six accused persons are on trial for allegedly misappropriating the huge sum.
They were arraigned on a 22 count charge before Justice Peter Affem of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja.
When the charges were read to them, all the accused persons denied the charges one after the other.
Counsel to the Federal Government, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), requested for an adjournment of the trial till next year to enable him assemble his witnesses.
However, counsel to Dasuki, Ahmed Raji (SAN), raised the issue of bail for the accused persons, adding that motions for their bail have been filed and served on the prosecution.
Jacobs confirmed that he has been served with the application for bail of all the accused persons and with the consent of all the lawyers in the trial, Justice Affem adjourned hearing in the bail application until Wednesday.
He also ordered that the accused persons be kept in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission until their bail is decided on Wednesday.
Meanwhile in another High Court of the FCT presided by Justice Sani Yusuf, the court adjourned its bail ruling till Friday.
Dasuki, who was arraigned before Justice Yusuf alongside a former Director of Finance in the Office of the NSA, Shuaibu Salisu; a former Group General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Aminu Kura; and two firms, Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Reference Hospital, had on Monday filed for bail after pleading not guilty to the 19-count charge preferred against them by the EFCC.
After over two hours of arguments and counter-arguments from counsel to both parties, Yusuf adjourned bail ruling to Friday.
Dasuki will remain in EFCC custody.
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