Chief of Staff to former Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state, Alhaji Bashir Sa’idu, was Tuesday sent back to custody in the Correctional Facility in Kaduna.
The state High Court adjourned hearing of his bail application till Thursday, 23rd January, 2025.
Sa’idu and one time Commissioner for Finance was charged before the Kaduna State High Court II on 10-Count charges bordering on alleged money laundering, embezzlement and stealing.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission had filed similar charges against the commissioner at another state High Court.
When the case came up for mention before Justice Isa Aliyu on Tuesday, the 10 charges were read to the hearing of the defendant, to which he pleaded not guilty.
The charges among others alleged that, the former commissioner sold $45million in hard currency belonging to the Kaduna state government-equivalent to ₦18,450,000,000, at the significantly undervalued rate of ₦410 per dollar, instead of the parallel market rate of ₦498 per dollar, with criminal intent, resulting in a ₦3,960,000,000 loss to the government.
The prosecution said 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 ₦3,960,000,000 discrepancy was laundered by Sa’idu, in violation of Section 18 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Counsel to the defendant, M I Abubakar, notified the court of a pending bail application, urging the court to grant his client, Alhaji Bashir Sa’idu bail, as he had already spent 21 days in custody since his arrest on 2nd January, 2025.
While noting that the bail application was filed before the Court on the 16th January, he argued that granting Sa’idu bail will allow him adequate time and facilities to file his defence to the charges against him.
