Reports by The ICIR, The Guardian and Premium Times say Abuja’s Federal High Court ordered journalist Daniel Ojukwu held until Dec. 1 after he pleaded not guilty to 12 counts tied to investigative reports.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik reportedly ordered Ojukwu held at Kuje Correctional and Custodial Centre pending a bail hearing.
Ojukwu’s lawyers asked that he remain on police administrative bail while his application, filed Nov. 9, was pending. Premium Times and The Guardian reported that Abdulmalik said the bail application was not yet ready for hearing and separately denied the request to remain on police bail, noting that Ojukwu had been served with the charges well before filing the application. Prosecutors also sought a bench warrant for Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) founder Fisayo Soyombo, a co-defendant, saying he was at large. Premium Times and PUNCH reported that the judge rejected the request, saying Soyombo had not appeared before her.
The counts allege cyberstalking and criminal defamation over FIJ stories about Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, who led the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals during late President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. The court has not ruled on the merits of the allegations.
FIJ’s four reports, published from November 2023 to January 2024, described a ₦147.1 million payment to Enseno Global Ventures Ltd. for classroom and skills-center construction; a ₦47.5 million classroom contract awarded to Tru 3 Nigeria Limited; a ₦241 million forfeiture linked to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); and solar panels at a school project that FIJ said stopped working a week after installation. Those details are claims in FIJ’s reporting, not court findings.
FIJ reported that police held Ojukwu for 10 days in May 2024 and released him May 10 that year. The ICIR and The Guardian reported Dec. 1 as the next scheduled court event, when the bail application is due for a hearing.
