The former aviation minister was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, days after the EFCC arraigned him alongside his daughter, Fatima, and her husband, last Thursday on similar charges of abuse of office.
The scheduled arraignment of a former Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika on fresh corruption charges was stalled at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Garki, Abuja, on Tuesday.
The proceedings stalled due to Mr Sirika's absence from court. His brother, Ahmad Abubakar, with whom he stands accused in the case, was also absent.
They face eight counts of fraudulent award of contracts worth billions of naira to Mr Abubakar's company while Mr Sirika was serving as the aviation minister.
Their arraignment was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, days after the EFCC arraigned Mr Sirika alongside his daughter, Fatima, and her husband, last Thursday. The trio denied the charges, pleading not guilty to all five counts.
Why Sirika, co-defendants were absent
The prosecuting lawyer, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, said during the short, stalled proceedings on Tuesday that Mr Sirika and his brother could not make it to court because they were out of Abuja.
Mr Atolagbe said he was informed by the defendants' lawyer, Kanu Agabi, that the pair could not get a flight out of their location into Abuja.
But, the trial judge, Suleiman Belgore, asked why the defendants were not in the custody of the EFCC from where they were supposed to be produced before the court for arraignment.
In his response, Mr Atolagbe said the defendants were on administrative bail.
"I apologise to the court," Mr Atolagbe said, adding that the defendants' lawyer informed him that his clients were not within the jurisdiction of the court.
He also said that the prosecution had yet to serve the charges on the defendants.
"The defendants were granted administrative bail by the prosecuting agency, the EFCC but unfortunately the defendants' lawyer informed the prosecution lawyer that they were not able to make it to court this morning," Mr Atolagbe told the judge.
A lawyer, Olaniyi Anjorin, from the chambers of Kanu Agabi, representing the defendants on Tuesday, confirmed the prosecuting lawyer's submissions.
"I confirm the position of the prosecution lawyer, and there is no objection to adjournment," Mr Anjorin said.
After listening to the lawyers' submissions, the judge adjourned until 23 April for the arraignment of the defendants.
Fresh case
In the fresh case, Mr Sirika is charged alongside his brother Ahmad Abubakar.
Just as in the previous case, the defendants stand accused of abuse of office concerning award of contracts. Also joined with them as a co-defendant is Mr Abubakar's firm, Enginos Nigeria Limited, which was allegedly awarded the contracts.
Sources say the contracts were cumulatively worth N14 billion.
In one of the counts, the EFCC accused Mr Sirika of using his position as minister to confer "unfair advantage upon Enginos Nigeria Limited," a company owned by Ahmad Abubakar, Mr Sirika's biological brother. The contract involving N1.3 billion (N1,345,586,500) was awarded for the construction of a terminal building at Katsina Airport, in breach of Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.
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The prosecution, in another count, alleged that Mr Sirika, in November 2022, used his position to influence the award of another contract to Enginos Nigeria Limited for the establishment of fire truck maintenance and refurbishment centre at Katsina Airport to the tune of N3.8 billion (N3,811,497,685) in violation of the ICPC Act.
The fresh case comes less than a week after the EFCC arraigned Mr Sirika alongside his daughter, Fatima, and her husband, on charges of abuse of office in awarding some contracts.
In the earlier charge, Mr Sirika, who was the aviation minister during President Muhammadu Buhari's two terms in office, was accused of abusing his office as minister through the award of contracts to a company in which his daughter and her husband had interest.
They pleaded not guilty to all six counts preferred against them before a judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja, Sylvanus Oriji.
