Court grants Okorocha N500m bail

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday granted bail in the sum of N500 million to a former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha.

Justice Inyang Ekwo ruled that Senator Okorocha is to produce a surety in like sum.

The former governor is being tried on a 17-count charge of laundering N2.9 billion. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) accuses him of conspiring with others, including another politician Nyerere Anyim and five companies to steal from public coffers.

During their arraignment on Monday, Okorocha, Anyim, and the companies indicted all pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In granting Okorocha bail, Justice Ekwo ordered that the surety to be produced must be a responsible citizen who has landed property in the like sum of the bail granted to the federal lawmaker.

The judge also directed Okorocha to deposit his international passport with the registry of the court and should not travel outside the jurisdiction of the court without the court’s permission.

Similarly, he ordered the court registry to inform the Nigeria Immigration Service that Okorocha’s international passport was in its custody.

For Anyim, the court ruled that he should continue to enjoy the administrative bail earlier granted to him.