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  A Federal High Court on Wednesday in Abuja granted bail to former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Dikko Umar.
Umar was arraigned before Justice Binta Nyako by the Federal Government on a seven count charge bordering on money laundering totalling over N4.8 billion during his tenure as the Chief of Air Staff.

 Umar pleaded not guilty and was admitted to bail on self recognition following the no objection submission to his bail application by the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Sylvanus Tahir.

"The defendant, having been granted administrative bail by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is hereby admitted to bail on self recognisance and shall deposit his international passport with the Chief Registrar of the Court and shall not travel out of the court's jurisdiction without permission,"� Justice Nyako held.

The suit was adjourned till June 7, 8 and 9 for trial.

Umar's counsel, Mr. Hassan Liman (SAN), had informed the court that he filed and served the defendant's bail application on May 9, 2016 and urged the court to grant his client bail on liberal terms due to the fact that he (Umar) had been granted administrative bail by the EFCC.

Liman said the application was supported by a 23 paragraph affidavit and three exhibits and accompanied with a written address.

The prosecution lawyer, Mr. Tahir, urged the court to grant Umar bail on such terms and conditions that would compel the defendant to attend his trial.
Umar headed the Air Force from September 9, 2010 to October 4, 2012.

It will be recall that a former Director of Finance and Accounts at the NAF, Air Commodore Salisu Yushau, had revealed before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, that some past NAF chiefs diverted N558.2 million monthly from funds meant for the payment of salaries of NAF officials.

Meanwhile, a witness, Mr. Emmanuel Abu, who is a cashier with the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Camp, Mogadishu Cantonment, Abuja, has explained how the N558.2 million set aside monthly for the general administration of the Chief of Air Staff was converted into dollars for alleged personal use.

He disclosed that the N558.2 million was part of the excess in the N4 billion which the NAF received monthly in the Personnel and Emolument Account after the salaries and allowances of permanent and temporary members of staff must have been cleared.

Abu, who testified on Wednesday as the second Prosecution Witness(PW2), revealed how part of the money was being converted into dollars' equivalent under the instructions of the Camp Finance Officer (CFO), Muhammed Sini.

According to him, in the month of January 2003, the sum of N127 million, which is part of the N558.2 million, was trans�ferred in eight or nine tranches and converted into US dollars at the rate of N163, realising the sum of $2.6 million.