Former Director, Legal Services of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Grace Taiga has been remanded Suleja prison, Niger state following the decision of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Apo, Abuja.
The former director is to remain in prison until September 25, 2019 when her bail application would be heard.
Taiga, who was arraigned before the court on Friday on an eight-count charge of bribery, on Friday, pleaded not guilty to the charge on which she was, among others, accused of receiving bribe, through her offshore bank account in signing the Gas Supply Processing Agreement (GSPA) between P&ID Limited and the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Petroleum Resources Ministry on January 11, 2019, and over which an arbitration panel, which sat in London awarded about $9.6billion damages against Nigeria.
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After her plea, her lawyer, Ola Olanipekun (SAN), prayed the court to allow his client to be remanded in the custody of EFCC pending the determination of her bail application, on the grounds that she was suffering from hypertension and diabetes.
This plea was however objected to by lead prosecuting lawyer, Bala Sanga arguing that the proper place to remand a defendant, whose plea had been taken, is prison custody.
In a ruling, Justice Olukayode Adeniyi upheld Sanga’s argument and ordered that the defendant be remanded in Suleja prison.
The judge subsequently scheduled September 25 for the hearing of her bail application.
