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Presidential Aide Stands as Surety for Subsidy Fraud Suspects

By on August 2, 2012

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on intergovernmental relations, Mrs. Mariam Ali, has volunteered herself to be the surety of one of the subsidy suspects, Mr. Christian Taylor.

Mrs. Ali, also happens to be the wife of the former Chairman of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and is the mother of one of the primary suspects, Mr. Abubakar Ali.

Christian Taylor was unable to meet the initial bail conditions which asked that a blood relation in Lagos stand as surety for him. According to his counsel, Mr. Kolade Obafemi, he is an indigene of Sierra Leone and thus argued it would be difficult to secure a blood relative in Lagos. They pleaded the court for a variation of the bail conditions in order to allow them ability to meet said conditions.

Obafemi prayed the court to accept Mrs. Mariam Taylor stating that she is “a responsible Nigerian.

He said, “The proposed surety, Dr. Mariam Ali is a responsible Nigerian. She is the Special Assistant to the President on Intergovernmental Affairs.”

The judge accepted the conditions despite opposition from EFF counsel, Rotimi Jacobs.

Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo overruled Jacobs saying, “the essence of granting the bail was to ensure that the accused attended trial.”