An Abuja Federal High Court on Friday refused to vary the terms of the bail granted to a former Director of Pension Accounts in the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, Dr Sani Shuaibu.
Shuaibu, who is facing trial over alleged pension fraud, has not been able to meet the bail conditions since he was granted bail by Justice Adeniyi Ademola on July 12, 2013.
Justice Ademola had granted bail to Shuaibu and his co-accused, Udusegbe Eric, a former manager with the defunct Oceanic Bank Plc, in the sum of N500m with two sureties each in like sum.
The said sureties must own landed property within the jurisdiction of the court and title deeds of the property are to be deposited with the Deputy Chief Registrar of the court.
However, following their inability to meet the bail conditions, the two accused persons filed separate applications, asking the court to reduce the number of sureties for each of them from two to one.
Also, Shuaibu sought the reduction of the amount from N500m to N100m, while Uduesegbe asked the court to reduce the sum attached to his bail to N10m.
But, ruling on the matter on Friday, Justice Ademola refused to vary the bail conditions.
He held that the accused persons had failed to convince the court to exercise its discretion to vary the bail conditions.
As a result, Shuaibu and Udesegbe will remain in prison custody, pending their ability to meet the bail terms.
Punch
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