Adeyinka Nike Aderonmu, a Kaduna-based businesswoman, was on Wednesday arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before E. U. Akpan of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja over alleged fraud.
Aderonmu is facing a three-count charge bordering on the transfer and retention of funds suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities amounting to N328,558,800.
One of the charges reads: “That you, Adeyinka Nike Aderonmu, sometime in 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, transferred Viju Water worth the sum of Three Hundred and Twenty-Eight Million, Five Hundred and Fifty-Eight Thousand, Eight Hundred Naira (N328,558,800), derived from an unlawful act and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(1)(c) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004 and punishable under Section 18(2) of the same Act.”
The defendant pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.
Following her plea, prosecution counsel F.A.I. Aesmebo asked the court to fix a trial date and remand the defendant in a correctional facility pending trial.
However, defence counsel urged the court to grant bail to the defendant.
Justice Akpan noted that the defence’s bail application was not yet in the court’s records and subsequently ordered that Aderonmu be remanded at the Suleja Correctional Centre in Niger State.
The matter was adjourned until July 8, 2026, for commencement of trial.
