By 
Former Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Peter Jack, has been arraigned in a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Apo, Abuja, over alleged N50 million contract scam. Jack is being prosecuted by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (OAGF) on two counts of criminal breach of trust and cheating.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the prosecution counsel, Mrs. Chelsy Emezina, told the court that sometime in 2015, the complainant, Tunde Ajala, transferred N50 million to the defendant as payment for a contract worth over N1 billion.
The prosecutor also alleged that the contract was never awarded; instead, the defendant converted the money to his personal use, and every effort to recover the money had proved abortive.
The prosecutor said the offence contravenes the provisions of sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge. Jack’s lawyer O. A. Ekpenta prayed the court to allow him move his application for his client’s bail.
Emezina, who objected to the application on the grounds that she was just served the motion in court, added that she needed time to reply to her counter-motion.
The judge, Justice Slyvanus Oriji, said the motion was not ripe to be taken. Ekpenta withdrew the motion and opted to make an oral application for bail.
When the judge asked if she had an objection, the prosecutor said she had no objection for the withdrawal.
Justice Oriji granted the application and struck out the motion.
