Ise-Oluwa Ige
26 August 2008
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday admitted the immediate past governor of Plateau State, Chief Michael Botmang to bail in the sum of N100million.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had, about a month ago, arraigned Chief Botmang, before the high court for allegedly diverting into his private pocket a total N1.5billion belonging to the state while he held office as the state's chief executive.
Botmang held the office for less than six months.
The high court judge, Justice Muhammad Umar who granted him bail yesterday also ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecuting him to release all his travel documents seized from him to enable him proceed to the United Kingdom for urgent medical attention.
Botmang is suffering from multiple ailments including diabetes mellitus, gont, hypertension, chronic kidney disease and hyperknee.
He had told the court that there was no way he could embark on the journey without his travel documents which were in the possession of EFCC.
He said he had tried to no avail to make EFCC release the documents.
Although EFCC told the court yesterday that it was not opposed to his traveling out of the country for medical attention, it however said that it would want the court to order which of the three passports should be released to Botmang to enable him make the journey and the duration of his stay there.
The judge who did not specify the duration allowed for the medical check up however ordered that when Botmang was ready to travel abroad, he should formally apply to the court for the release of the passports.
But Justice Umar added yesterday that Botmang would not be allowed to breathe the air of freedom until he has produced a surety who must have property worth N100million.
He said the surety must produce to the Deputy Chief Registrar of the Federal high court, Abuja the title deed of the property for verification.
Although Botmang said that he would meet the bail condition, yet, his lead counsel, Chief Macus Saleh (SAN) pleaded with the court to allow him go home with the accused person who was scheduled to meet a dialysis appointment today.
Because the EFCC said it was not opposing the request, the trial judge exercised his discretion to grant Botmang temporary bail to go home and return to court on Wednesday (tomorrow) to meet the main bail condition.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned former governor of Plateau State, Chief Michael Botmang, before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja for allegedly diverting into his private pocket a total N1.5billion belonging to the state while he held office as the state's chief executive.
The commission which proferred a 31-count charge of fraud against the ex-governor however stunned the court when it revealed that of the said N1.5billion state fund which developed wings during his less than six months tenure, Botmang allegedly stole a total N950.7million in just three days.
The embattled former governor, Michael Botmang, became the governor of the North Central state of Plateau on November 13, 2006 after his boss, Chief Joshua Chibi Dariye was impeached from office under a controversial circumstance by the Mike Dapialong led six-member House of Assembly.
The six members of the assembly's 24 had argued that they constituted a two-thirds majority on the grounds that the 14 members who decamped to the opposition had vacated their seats.
Botmang held office for less than six months when the Supreme Court, in a unanimous judgment, annulled Dariye's unconstitutional impeachment and returned him into office.
During his less than six-month tenure, Botmang was said to have looted the state fund under his care to the tune of N1,574,117,982.00k.
According to the EFCC prosecuting him, he could have stolen more than the amount on the charge sheet but that the thorough investigation conducted revealed that he defrauded the state to the tune of N1.5billion while he held sway as the state chief executive.
Unlike other ex-governors that were also investigated, Botmang was said to have developed a unique pattern of stealing the state fund.
He was said to have unlawfully diverted the total sum in tranches under the sub-head of classified fund in order to make it impossible for any crime bursting agency from probing the expenditure of such funds.
But the EFCC said that it probed the movement of the fund and discovered that as the monies were withdrawn in tranches from the state government's account, they were diverted to the private account of the state governor.
Tracing how Botmang allegedly stole the N1.5billion state fund in less than six months in the 31-count charge, EFCC said that when the governor started looting the state treasury, he lacked the courage to steal in millions.
The commission said that no sooner after the first 'successful" operation, it said that Botwang went wild and started moving the state funds in millions.
According to the charge preferred against him, he started defrauding the state on November 25, 2006 when he withdrew the sum of N500,000 from the state account maintained with the Union Bank and diverted same into his private account.
He was said to have stolen another N250million from the state account on December 5, 2006.
He was said to have applied brake for a period of two months before he struck again on February 8, 2007.
This time, EFCC said he allegedly withdrew a total N232,585,982 million and diverted same to his account.
The following day, February 9, 2007, EFCC said that Botmang visited the state account again and withdrew another N20million under the sub-head of classified fund and diverted same to his personal account.
He was said to have waited for another two weeks before he diverted a paltry sum of N2million into his private account again.
Between March 2, 2007 and March 9, same year, Botmang was said to have dipped his hands into the public coffer again seven times and withdrew a total sum of N102,332,000million.
He allegedly collected N23.3million from the state account on March 2, 2007; N20million on March 3, 2007 and N12million; N12.5million; N11million; N13.5millionand N10million on March 9, 2007 alone.
EFCC which said that it was not really interested in witch-hunting anybody claimed that Botmang only waited for two weeks and two days to strike again but in a big way.
This time around, he was alleged to have stolen a total N278.8million from the state coffer only on March 27, 2007.
He allegedly withdrew the said sum in 10 tranches of N154.5million; N23.5million; N10million; N13.3million; N12.8million; 14.7million; N12.1million; N10million; N17million and N10.9million under the guise of classified fund.
Although EFCC said that Botmang stole a total N487.9million in just the month of April 2007, the commission however stunned the court with the details of the fraud as it said that on April 30, 2007 alone, Botmang allegedly visited the state's bank four separate times to divert a total N439.4million from the state's coffer into his private account.
The first cheque drawn totaled N397million; the second was N12million; the third was N14million while the fourth was N16.4million, all in one day.
The last batch of monies Botmang allegedly transferred unlawfully into his account before he left office was a paltry N200million.
He was said to have prepared two separate cheques in the sum of N100million each and moved the total sum on July 4, 2007.
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