The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a former governor of Kaduna State, Mukhtar Yero, and three others.
The former governor and the other persons were arraigned by the anti-graft agency on Thursday before Justice Mohammed Shuaibu of the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna.
Others charged alongside the former governor are a former Minister of State for Power, Nuhu Wya; a former Secretary to Kaduna State government, Hamza Ishaq; and a former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna, Haruna Gaya.
They were charged with four counts bordering on money laundering, criminal conspiracy, misappropriation of public fund, and breach of trust.
All the defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them.
When Mr Yero’s counsel, Yunus Ustaz, made an oral application for the bail of his client with the alternative to be remanded in EFCC custody, it was opposed by the EFCC counsel, Joshua Saidi.
Saidi insisted that the four accused persons be taken to prison as the commission does not have enough detention facilities to accommodate them.
After listening to both arguments, Justice Shuaibu, agreed with the submission of the prosecuting counsel and, therefore, directed the defence counsel to file a written application for bail.
He then ordered that the four accused persons be remanded in prison custody until the next sitting, which he adjourned till June 6, for ruling on the bail application.
The ruling, however, did not go well with the purported supporters of Mr Yero who gathered in front of the court premises in solidarity with him.
They insisted that the former governor was innocent of all the allegations levelled against him.
The EFCC had invited Mr Yero, Mr Ishaq and Mr Gaya on Friday last week over the alleged mismanagement of N750 million campaign funds.
They were asked to explain the various roles they played in the distribution of the campaign fund meant for the state in the buildup to the 2015 general elections.
The anti-graft agency later released them after hours of interrogation.
However, the three men, as well as the former minister, were detained at the EFCC zonal office in Kaduna on Wednesday.
The spokesman for the zonal office Kamaludeen Gebi had told Channels Television that the four accused persons would be arraigned in court on May 31.
