A property developer Cecil Osakwe has been arraigned at the Federal High Court in Abuja over alleged electricity theft.
The Federal Government charged him on Monday with two counts of tampering and interfering with electricity fittings, metres and appliances.
The offence, according to the charge, led to the loss of revenue amounting to N11 million.
Osakwe, a senior lawyer who has developed property both in the United States, London and Nigeria, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Following that, the prosecuting counsel Alibaba Maman prayed to the court for a date to enable him to prove the charge against the defendant.
Mr Victor Giwa, counsel to the defendant, prayed the court to grant his client bail based on self-recognisance.
Giwa told the court that his client was a law-abiding citizen who had no criminal record and had never committed any offence before.
The lawyer also told the court that if granted bail, his client would not interfere with investigations and would always be in court.
He also said that his client never abused the administrative bail granted him by the special investigative task force on electricity theft that investigated the case.
Justice Binta Nyako said that she was minded to admit the defendant to bail because the prosecution had not placed any material before the court to convince her to refuse bail.
She admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N1 million with two sureties in like sum who must be resident in Abuja.
Justice Nyako told the defendant that since the bail was in the most liberal terms, under no circumstances should he miss his trial saying the bail would be revoked if he missed even a day.
Earlier, Osakwe’s counsel tried to stop the arraignment on the grounds that there was a pending suit challenging the legality of the panel that investigated him.
The judge, however, said that she would not take any interlocutory applications except after the defendant had taken his plea.
She adjourned the matter until May 2 for trial.
The alleged offences were said to have been committed in September 2021.
In January 2023, the Nigeria Bar Association, Garki, Abuja gave Osakwe an award for excellence in real estate sector.