The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday ordered the remand of Faisal Maina at the Police Special Tactical Squad in Asokoro after he pleaded not guilty to a three-count charge of fraud against him.
Mr Maina is the son to Abdurasheed Maina, the former Director of the Federal Government Pension Task Force.
He was arrested alongside his father in September. The father is accused of diverting N100 billion of pension funds.
His son is accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of operating an account with the UBA which he used to divert various sums of money, including N58 million.
The duo were arraigned on Friday on separate charges. They pleaded not guilty.
The court adjourned the hearing of Faisal Maina’s case to November 6 for daily trial.
His lawyer told the court the defendants had asked the court to grant bail to their client.
The court, however, refused to hear the application, describing it as “incompetent.”
“A court of law only has jurisdiction to decide bail upon the arraignment of a defendant, not before it,” Justice Okon Abang said.
“An application filed before his arraignment is incompetent. It is in the light of the above that the application for bail filed before arraignment deserves to be withdrawn.”
The court had earlier ordered that the father be remanded in a correctional centre till the commencement of his separate trial on October 30.
