A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has ordered the remand of the Project Coordinator of the North East Development Commission (NEDC), Danjuma Mohammed, and his associate, Prince Chibuike Echem, over an alleged ₦5 billion contract fraud. Justice Keziah Ogbonna gave the order on Tuesday after the two men were arraigned on a 55-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC accused the defendants of conspiracy, advance fee fraud, forgery and issuing fake contract documents in the name of the NEDC and its Multi-Sectoral Crisis Recovery Project (MCRP). According to the prosecution, Mohammed and Echem, alongside another suspect said to be at large, allegedly collected huge sums of money from a contractor, Kenneth Ejiofor Ifekudu, under the pretext of awarding him contracts that never existed.

Investigators told the court that between 2022 and 2024, the suspects allegedly obtained over ₦2.2 billion, ₦649.5 million and ₦573 million from the complainant through different bank accounts. They were also accused of collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign currency, all based on claims that they had the authority to award NEDC-related contracts.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. Their request for bail was not heard after the court agreed with the EFCC that the application was premature. Justice Ogbonna consequently ordered that they be remanded in Suleja Prison and fixed March 25 to April 7 for the commencement of trial.