A former Aviation Minister, Sen. Stella Oduah, and others have asked the Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court, Abuja to discharge and acquit them.
Oduah and eight others were dragged before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N5 billion fraud, but the defendants pleaded not guilty on Friday.
Others arraigned alongside the ex-lawmaker, who represented Anambra North Senatorial District at the 9th National Assembly, were Gloria Odita, Nwosu Emmanuel Nnamdi and Chukwuma Irene Chinyere.
Others include Global Offshore and Marine Ltd, Tip Top Global Resources Ltd, Crystal Television Ltd, Sobora International Ltd and others.
Recall that Justice Ekwo on Monday, fixed the date after a counsel that appeared for EFCC, Hassan Liman SAN, prayed the court to allow the defendants to take their plea, having filed the charge against them since Dec. 17, 2020.
The first respondent was charged for N5 billion fraud and financial misappropriation which she allegedly perpetrated while she served as Minister during the Goodluck Jonathan Administration.
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In the 25-count charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/316/2020, they are accused of conspiracy, money laundering and maintaining anonymous bank accounts with a commercial bank.
The proceeding was still ongoing at the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, Guinness World Record has dissociated itself from attempts by a Nigerian, Tembu Ebere to cry for 100 hours.
Ebere had experienced temporal blindness from his attempt at the longest-crying individual world record.
Ebere confirmed his health status in a recent interview.
Ebere said he began experiencing severe headaches, puffy eyes and a swollen face from the constant crying before going temporarily blind for 45 minutes.
But in reaction, the Guinness World Record, GWR, disassociated itself from such a record.
In a tweet on Thursday, GWR stressed that they did not approve the attempt and would not be able to monitor such a record.
“Just to quell some recent rumours, we wouldn’t ever monitor a record for the longest marathon crying. Here’s what can be monitored by our team”, the body wrote.