Nigeria’s antigraft body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned former Minister of Power and Steel, Mr Olu Agunloye, before a Federal High court presided by Justice Donatus Okorowo over allegations of fraud.
Agunloye was brought before the court by the EFCC on Wednesday.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges read against him but the Judge ordered that he be remanded in Kuje Correctional center, pending when the bail would be granted.
It would be recalled that the EFCC in December 2023, declared Agunloye wanted for forgery and corruption.
The former minister was declared wanted in a communique shared by the Commission on X and its website, with image displayed with a message urging the public to provide information that could lead to his arrest.
Agunloye was then apprehended and detained shortly after the declaration.
Agunloye who served under formee President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government was being quizzed in connection with the Mambilla project.
Obasanjo himself had accused Agunloye of fraudulently awarding the contract for the project without the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval, an accusation he denied, saying Obasanjo was distorting facts.