Akeju

Yemi Akeju, Chairman Ideas Communications and President/Chairman Institute of Directors (IoD) and a former staff of Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc named Mrs. Abieyuwa were on Friday arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for an alleged breaching the public procurement process in the sale of a landed property belonging to the Federal Government.

The said property is said to be known as Pacific Village located at Ijede, in Ikorodu area of Lagos State.

Akeju and Abieyuwa were arraigned on two counts charge before Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court in Lagos.

The EFCC in the charge said the defendants manipulated the bidding process in the sale of the land which they had on July 18, 2012 advertised in The Guardian Newspaper.

She was said to have unduly favoured a company, First Grant Nigerian Limited ,owned by Akeju to purchase the land for N200m.

According to the prosecutor, the NSPMP ,which was offering the landed property for sale ,had stated in its Guardian’s advertisement that interested buyers should submit their applications to the M&G Chambers.

But Abieyuwa was accused of rejecting the offers submitted by Ad prints Network Limited and Deuxvill Limited,which had also shown interest in the property and routed their indication of interest through M&G Chambers.

Abieyuwa,was said to have told Adprints Network that the offer had closed as of July 8,2012 when the companies submitted their application, a claim the prosecutor said was not true.

The two of them were later granted bail in the sum of N50m each with sureties in the same amount.

The case has been fixed for May 12 for further hearing.