Former Governor Ikedi Ohakim lucky to be granted bail
Former Imo State governor, Ikedi Ohakim, got a breather on Thursday as a Federal High Court, Abuja, accepted his bail application.
Ohakim, who left office in 2011, was arraigned in court Wednesday on a three-count charge bordering on money laundering.
The charge was filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In his ruling, Justice Adeniyi Ademola ignored the objection by the prosecution and granted Ohakim bail with the sum of N270million and a surety in like sum.
The judge, who ordered Ohakim to deposit his international passport with the court’s registrar, said the surety must be a resident of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with a landed property within the city.
Justice Ademola observed that the essence of bail was to ensure the accused person attend court to stand trial.
He also noted that since the prosecution has concluded investigation, the likelihood of the accused person interfering with prosecution’s witnesses and investigation was not real.
Ohakim is being prosecuted for allegedly making a cash payment to the tune of $2, 290,000.00 ( about N270,000,000.00), for the purchase of a property at Plot No. 1098 Cadastral Zone A04, Asokoro District, otherwise known as No.60, Kwame Nkurumah Street, Asokoro, Abuja.
The EFCC argued that the amount is above the threshold approved for an individual going by the provisions of Section 1 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004.
Nation
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