N2.2bn fraud: Court grants FG’s request to arraign S’Court registrar

High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, in Jabi, Abuja, yesterday granted a request by the Federal government to arraign the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Mr. Ahmed Saleh, and two others on a nine-counts bordering on gratification and diversion of N2.2bn belonging to the apex court.

Government, through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation had on November 3, 2016 charged Saleh alongside Muhammed Abdulrahman Sharif and Rilwanu Lawal, with the offences of receiving gratifications totalling N74.4m from private contractors providing services to the Supreme Court between 2009 and 2016.

Although the arraignment of the defendants was scheduled for yesterday before Justice A.B Mohammed, however, neither the accused persons nor their lawyers were present in court.

It was learnt that the defendants had yet to be served with the charges as of yesterday.

The development forced the prosecuting counsel, Mrs. Hajara Yusuf to ask for an adjournment to enable the prosecution to produce them in court.

She said: “We were made to understand that the matter was assigned to this court just yesterday morning.
“We will be asking for an adjournment to enable us to produce the defendants in court.”

The judge in granting Yusuf’s request then fixed November 17 for the arraignment of the accused.

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