The federal government has filed a two-count charge of criminal conspiracy and fraudulent acquisition of property against the former Special Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan, Mr Kingsley Kuku and one of his aides, Lawrence Pepple, who served as a technical assistant.

The two-count charge filed by Messrs Johnson Ojogbane and Abdullahi Faruk on behalf of the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), accuses the former coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and his aide of fraudulently acquiring a property on or about the October 23, 2013.

Count two of the charge, which relates specifically to Mr Lawrence Pepple, accuses him of knowingly acquiring interest in a private company where he is a Director and sole signatory of the company’s account whilst being employed in the public service as technical assistant on reintegration to the Special Adviser on Niger Delta Affairs.

The arraignment of the accused persons before an Abuja High Court in Wuse Zone 2, however, did not hold following the absence of the accused persons.