Sayed-Khaiyum faces a single charge relating to a report lodged by the acting supervisor of elections in February, police said in a statement.

The former attorney-general will remain in custody overnight before appearing at the Suva magistrate’s court tomorrow.

Sakeo Raikaci, chief of investigations and prosecutions, called for patience in the high-profile case of Sayed-Khaiyum, a key ally of Bainimarama who was voted out of office last year.

“The complex nature of the reports determines the course of the investigations which have no pre-determined timeline,” Raikaci said in a statement.

The charge laid against Sayed-Khaiyum is the latest setback for Bainimarama, who led Fiji following a bloodless coup in 2006 until voters removed him from power in elections last December.

Bainimarama, 69, is due in court on May 11, having pleaded not guilty in March to a charge of abuse of office.

Bainimarama has vowed to fight allegations that he used his influence to have a police investigation terminated.

It concerned staff members at Fiji’s University of the South Pacific in July 2019.