By Kayode Adeoti
An Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Thursday granted bail to the Director-General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Modibbo Kawu in the sum of N100million.
Kawu and three others including Dipo Onifade, Lucky Omoluwa, who is the Chairman of Pinnacle Communications Limited, as well as the company, are facing charges of corruption.
The NBC boss was indicted for allegedly misappropriating N2.5 billion, a scandal that could slow down the nationwide rollout of the digital transmission of home television signals.
They are being prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on 12-count charges.
Pleading not guilty to all the charges, Kawu and his co-defendants through their counsel applied for bail.
Count one of the charges reads: That you, Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, Sir Lucky Omoiuwa and Dipo Olufade (m) sometime between December 2016 and May 2017, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, conspired with each other to use the position of Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, as Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission to confer corrupt advantage on Sir Lucky Omoluwa, your friend and associate by recommending to the Hon Minister of Information to approve payment of the sum of N25 billion to Pinnacle Communications private company owned by ’Omoluwa as “Seed Grant” under the Digital Switch-Over Programme of the Federal Government of Nigeria when you knew that the said company was not entitled to receive such grant and you thereby committed on offence contrary to Section 26 ( l )(c) and punishable under Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
Ruling on the bail application, the judge, Folashade Giwa, said the crime for which the defendants were charged “is bailable.”
As part of the bail conditions, the judge ordered that the defendants pay N100 million each with two sureties in like sum.
