Lai Mohammed Fails To Appear In Court Over Alleged N2.5bn Approval, Travels Out Of The Country

Published: June 27, 2019

The former minister of information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday, June 26, did not appear in court to explain his role in the alleged approval of N2.5 billion to a company called Pinnacle Communications Ltd.

According to Daily Trust, the money was meant for the federal government’s Digital Switch Over (DSO) project.

It should be noted that the sitting was a continuation of the trial of the director-general of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and two other people.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)’s prosecution lawyer, Henry Emore, listed Mohammad as an additional witness to the alleged fraud.

After the two other witnesses had given their account of their role in the case, the prosecution lawyer told the court that the former information minister was not in court, adding that he had travelled out of the country and is expected back on Wednesday, July 31.

The court was, however, told that Mohammed had given his won statement to the ICPC.

Defendants in the case, Alex Izinyon and Lucky Omoluwa also told the court that they had filed an application to object the calling up of additional witness in the case as asked by the prosecution counsel.

Daily Trust also reports that a witness called by the anti-graft agency alleged that the former Minister Mohammad refused to give a statement to the ICPC, saying he needed clearance from the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF).