Court remands PDP chieftain who accused Kogi governor of fraud

A Chief Magistrate Court in Lokoja, on Friday, remanded a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) member, Austin Okai, in the correctional centre pending the conclusion of investigations of allegations against him by the State Security Service (SSS, also called DSS).

Chief Magistrate Abdullahi Musa-Mopa of the Lugard Chief Magistrate Court, gave the order after listening to the SSS, which arraigned the politician before him.

The SSS’s Prosecution Counsel, Izo Isaac, told the court that Mr Okai, a former House of Representatives aspirant for the Dekina/Bassa Federal Constituency, was being arraigned for alleged cyberstalking and criminal defamation of character.

Mr Isaac said: “Today’s arraignment of the accused is to ensure compliance with the law. By not keeping him beyond 48 hours in our custody, without the lawful permission of the court in line with the Criminal Justice System of Nigeria.

“We hereby apply to this honourable court to grant our application for remanding the accused in a correctional centre.

“This is to enable the DSS to conclude their investigations into the allegations of Cyberstalking and Criminal Defamation levelled against Austin Okai.”

In his ruling, Chief Magistrate Musa-Mopa granted the application and ordered that Mr Okai should be kept in the custody of the Federal Correctional Centre in Kabbah.

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Okai allegedly posted on social media that the Kogi Governor, Ahmed Ododo, allegedly stole billions of naira meant for local governments in the state as well as some government agencies.

Consequently, SSS operatives arrested him in his Abuja residence on Wednesday and transferred him to Kogi for further detention.