Arraignment of former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, and his brother, Ahmad Sirika, at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja in the alleged N19.4 billion fraud charge was, yesterday, stalled due to the defendants’ absence.
At yesterday’s proceedings, when the matter was called, the prosecuting counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), O.A, Atulagbe, told the court that the defendant, who had been granted administrative bail in another alleged crime by the anti-graft agency, was not in Abuja.
The lawyer apologised to the court that the defendant had not been served with the charge brought against him, stating that a consensus was reached with the defendant’s counsel to seek an adjournment on the matter for the prosecutor to effect the service and to enable the defendant to return to Abuja.
This is the second criminal charge the EFCC has filed against the ex-aviation minister. He was last Thursday arraigned for N2.7 billion fraud before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja.
