Senator representing Kogi
West senatorial district, Dino Melaye has been granted bail by an
FCT
High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja,
The
presiding judge, Justice Halilu, granted Melaye bail on Friday on the grounds
of ill health, pending when he will be arraigned by the police in a competent
court of law.
At
an earlier hearing on Thursday, Justice Halilu had ordered the Nigeria Police
Force to explain the reason for the continued detention of the senator who
according to him had been in their custody since January 4, 2019.
He
gave the order after the counsel representing Senator Melaye, Mike Ozekhome
(SAN), informed the court that his client had been in custody beyond the number
of days stipulated by the law.
In
response, the lawyer to the police, Mr Simon Lough, claimed that he was not
aware of the order to show cause as he only received the motion on notice on
Wednesday, January 16, 2019, and therefore needed five days to respond.
He
argued that although Senator Melaye was in police custody, he as the counsel
lacked the power to fast track his investigation which is currently on-going
preparatory to charging him to court.
Justice
Halilu, however, insisted that the police was put on notice to come and show
cause why the detained Senator should not be released on bail.
At
today’s hearing, he (Justice Halilu) held that the court had the
discretion to admit to bail or not and that it was inclined to grant the
applicant bail.
Senator
Melaye is expected to provide three sureties, two of whom must be owners of
landed properties in the FCT and the other must be the clerk of the National
Assembly.
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