BY Fredrick Nwabufo
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) could not arraign Kingsley Kuku, former special adviser on amnesty programme to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, at a federal capital territory (FCT) magistrate court “in absentia”, owing to the absence of the judge whom TheCable understands was at a conference.
April 20 has now been scheduled for his arraignment.
The anti-graft agency, however, brought two of Kuku’s aides, who are also defendants in the suit, to court, but the court did not sit.
On Monday, while responding to TheCable’s inquiry on whether Kuku would be arraigned on Tuesday, Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC spokesman, said: “I think so”.
And on whether he would be arraigned in absentia, he said: “Most likely”.
Kuku had failed on multiple occasions to honour the invitation of the EFCC for questioning, for allegedly embezzling and fraudulently diverting funds running into hundreds of millions of naira.
He failed to appear before the commission on July 28, a few weeks after the anti-graft agency invited him for interrogation.
He had given, knee injury, for which he was receiving treatment at St Andrew hospital, Alabama in the United States (US), as the reason for his failure to honour the invitation of the agency.
He also denied claims that he was a fugitive, emphasising that he was a patriotic Nigerian, who would return home to clear his name.
“I am a patriotic Nigerian; I have a future and image to protect. Therefore, my integrity is more important to me than the vanity of this world,” he had said in a statement.
“I have no foreign bank account, I have no house anywhere apart from Nigeria and I have since returned all government property in my possession before leaving.”
Kuku had said through his lawyers that he would “definitely” report to the EFCC latest by 10am on September 30 to face the allegations brought against him.
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