Femi Fani-Kayode, former minister of aviation, is currently before Justice O.O Abike-Fadipe of Lagos special offences court Ikeja, over the alleged forgery of a medical report.
The ex-minister, who is standing trial for alleged corruption, Daily Trust reports, had reportedly forged a medical report to evade appearing in court.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had rearrested him in court the last time the matter was heard but he was released after being interrogated for hours.
He was arrested at a Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, and moved to a nearby EFCC office.
The former minister was walking out after the matter was adjourned till January 24, 2021, when he was approached by an EFCC investigator.
He was subsequently arrested and moved to custody, a week after his earlier arrest.
The anti-graft agency had preferred a 17-count charge of N4.6 billion money laundering against Fani-Kayode alongside a former Minister of State for Finance, Nenadi Usman.
Also charged were Yusuf Danjuma, a former Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) and a company, Jointrust Dimentions Nigeria Ltd.
The accused who were arraigned before Justice Mohammed Aikawa of a Federal High Court in Lagos had pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail.
Trial had began before Justice Aikawa and witnesses were still being led in evidence, until Aikawa was transferred out of the Lagos division.
The charge was subsequently assigned to a new judge, Justice Daniel Osaigor, and the defendants were scheduled for re-arraignment on October 13, 2021. But on the said adjourned date, Fani-Kayode was absent from court and defence counsel, who appeared on his behalf on the said day, told the court that he was on admission at Kubwa General hospital in Abuja.
He had prayed for an adjournment on that grounds on behalf of the second defendant but EFCC prosecutor, Mrs Bilikisu Buhari, informed the court that the defendant was fond of adopting the same tactics whenever he does not want to attend court.
After going through the court’s records , Justice Osiagor noted that it was clear that the defendant had issued similar letter of excuses five times earlier.The court had consequently ordered the defendant to be present in court on the next date without fail.The court also ordered him to pay a fine of N200,000 in addition.
