Ex-governor on graft charges released on bail

A Nigerian court Wednesday released on bail a former governor of the northern Sokoto State who faces a corruption trial.

A Nigerian court Wednesday released on bail a former governor of the northern Sokoto State who faces a corruption trial along with eight aides, a court clerk told AFP.

Attahiru Bafarawa, who was governor between 1999 and 2007, was granted bail by the state's high court, along with his eight former aides, but they had to pay collective bail of 20 million naira (94,000 euros / 133,330 dollars) before he can be freed, Ahmad Yabo said.

- The judge granted bail to Bafarawa (...) following a bail application filed on his behalf by his counsel Ricky Tarfa, in which he prayed for bail to enable him to meet his doctor for an undisclosed ailment - he said.

He said the judge then fixed January 25, 2010 for the start of the hearing in the case.

Bafarawa was arrested on December 9 and charged on 47 counts of corruption, money laundering and abuse of office by the anti-graft agency EFCC and had been in prison custody since his arraignment last week.

The former governor is a prominent member of the opposition All Nigeria People's Party and he and eight other officials of his government are accused of stealing and awarding contracts valued around 15 billion naira (100 million dollars) to his family members and cronies while in office.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said around a dozen former governors who served under ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo had been arrested in the past few years over corruption allegations.

While in office, the governors of the 36 states in Nigeria, who have control over millions of dollars of public funds, enjoy immunity from prosecution.

Nigeria is ranked among some of the most corrupt nations in the world and graft has been identified as a major disincentive to investments in Africa's most populous nation of 140 million people.