REA Staff Member Faces Trial for Alleged ₦1.85 Billion Fraud

Henrietta Okojie, an employee of the Account and Finance Division of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), was brought before a Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday, accused of her purported role in a ₦1.85 billion scam.

Okojie was presented by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) before Justice Emeka Nwite, facing four charges.

When the case was called, ICPC’s attorney, Osuobeni Akponimisingha, notified the court that the session was arranged for Okojie to enter her plea. The anti-corruption commission’s legal representative requested that the bench warrant issued on June 6 be lifted, citing the defendant’s presence in court, and Justice Nwite granted the request.

After being read the four-count charge, Okojie entered a plea of not guilty, and Akponimisingha requested a trial date. However, Okojie’s lawyer, Ishiaku Garba, informed the court that a bail application had been submitted and served to the prosecution on June 11.

Akponimisingha mentioned that while the application was delivered to his office on Tuesday, he only became aware of it on Thursday and requested time to prepare a response.

“My lord, on June 12 was a public holiday and I couldn’t have come to office,” he said.

He argued that he should be given the opportunity to respond in the spirit of ensuring fair treatment. The judge agreed that the prosecution should have the chance to address the bail request. Justice Nwite directed that Okojie be held at the Suleja Correctional Centre and scheduled the bail application hearing for June 20, with the trial set for July 10.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that on June 6, Justice Nwite issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Okojie, Musa Karaye, and Emmanuel Pada due to their failure to appear in court for their scheduled arraignment.

The judge issued the order after Akponimisingha made an oral application to that effect. He then scheduled Okojie’s case to be revisited today for ICPC to bring her to court, while Karaye and Pada’s cases were scheduled for June 13 (Thursday).

The ICPC filed separate four-count charges against the officials involved, including Usman Ahmed Kwakwa, accusing them of embezzling public funds intended for the electrification of rural communities nationwide.

In the charge identified as: FHC/ABJ/CR/203/24, Okojie was accused in count one of receiving the amount of ₦342 million in various installments into her Access Bank Account: 0009022275 around March 2023 or thereabouts, purportedly for project supervision, with the intention to defraud the REA.

The offense is alleged to contravene Section 1(1)(a) and is punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offenses Act, 2006. According to NAN, the total amount from the fraudulent activities involving all accused officials amounted to ₦1.85 billion.