A Federal High Court in Yola has ordered that a former Adamawa PDP Chairman, Alhaji Abdurrahman Bobboi be remanded in prison custody for allegedly diverting food meant for Internally Displaced Persons ( IDPs ).
The court also remanded Mr. Sanda Lamurde, a former Commissioner for Finance, and Feredan George, a former Chief Store Officer of the State Emergency Management Agency ( SEMA ).
The order was given Wednesday by Justice Bilkisu Aliyu at the hearing of a case of alleged forgery and stealing brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).
The accused are facing 16 charges bordering on forgery, theft and fraud.
According to the Counsel to EFCC, Mr. Abubakar Aliyu, the suspects were arraigned following a petition received from members of Agricultural Transformation Agro-Allied Farmers Cooperative Union, Adamawa chapter.
The union had, in its petition to the anti-graft agency, alleged that the loan granted to Adamawa State farmers, from the Central Bank of Nigeria. were not disbursed to them.
It claimed that the funds were diverted into the purchase of food for IDPs by the state government.
Aliyu said the commission decided to arraign the suspects over the said transaction after investigation.
He alleged that the accused persons took advantage of their membership of the State Committee on the Welfare of the IDPs, to perpetrate the crime.
According to the EFCC lawyer, Lamurde, who served under former governor Bala Ngillari, was the chairman of the committee while Abdurrahman Bobboi, a former Chief Protocol Officer to the governor, was a member.
“The suspects conspired among themselves and diverted the funds amounting to N587 million released by the Adamawa State Government to buy food and other basic needs of IDPs” he said.
He said that the crime was committed between March and May, 2015.
The judge, who adjourned the case to Nov. 10 for trial, ordered the accused persons to be remanded in prison custody pending the determination of their bail application.
