A Kaduna State High Court again denied bail to Alhaji Bashir Sa’idu, former Chief of Staff (CoS) to the immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.
The court on Tuesday ordered that Sa’idu be sent back to the Correctional Facility after being charged with 10 counts bordering on alleged money laundering, embezzlement and stealing.
When the case came up for mention before Justice Isa Aliyu, the 10 charges were read to the hearing of the defendant, who pleaded not guilty.
Among the charges against the former Commissioner is the allegation that he sold $45million in hard currency belonging to the Kaduna State Government, equivalent to N18,450,000,000, at the significantly undervalued rate of N410 per dollar, instead of the parallel market rate of N498 per dollar, with criminal intent, resulting in a N3,960,000,000 loss to the government.
According to the prosecution, the offence allegedly took place in 2022, when Sa’idu served as Commissioner of Finance in El-Rufai’s administration.
The prosecution further alleged that the N3,960,000,000 discrepancy was laundered by Sa’idu, in violation of Section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
In his address to the Court, Counsel to the Defendant, M I Abubakar notified the Judge of a pending bail application, urging that his client, Alhaji Bashir Sa’idu be granted bail, having already spent 21 days in custody since his arrest on 2nd January 2025.
Abubakar, who said the bail application was filed before the Court on the 16th of January, submitted that granting Sa’idu bail would allow him adequate time and facilities to file his defence to the charges against him.
But objecting to the bail application, the Prosecution Counsel, Professor Nasiru Aliyu, argued that the law provides that the prosecution be allowed seven days to file its response to the bail application.
Returning from a recess of about 40 minutes, Justice Aliyu ruled that the prosecution be given adequate time provided by the law to file its defence to the bail application.
The Judge however adjourned the case till 23rd January 2025 for the bail application’s hearing.
