Alleged fraud: Court rejects Okorocha’s bail plea

<p><strong>A Federal High Court&comma; Abuja&comma; on Friday&comma; refused to admit <span style&equals;"font-family&colon; 'courier new'&comma; courier&semi;"><span style&equals;"font-family&colon; arial&comma; helvetica&comma; sans-serif&semi;">Sen<&sol;span>&period;<&sol;span> Rocha’s Okorocha&comma; who is currently at the EFCC’s custody&comma; to a bail&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Justice Inyang Ekwo&comma; instead&comma; ordered Okorocha&comma; through his lawyer&comma; Ola Olanipekun&comma; SAN&comma; to put the anti-graft agency on notice&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The News Agency of Nigeria &excl;NAN&rpar; reports that Olanipekun had&comma; in an ex-parte motion marked FHC&sol;ABJ&sol;CR&sol;28&sol;2022&comma; prayed the court to grant Okorocha bail on liberal terms pending the hearing and determination of motion on notice filed on May 25&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The ex-parte motion was dated and filed May 26&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But Justice Ekwo held that since the matter would be coming up on Monday&comma; May 30&comma; making an order for the release of the lawmaker on bail would be unnecessary&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The senior lawyer also hinted that he had also filed a motion on notice&comma; seeking for his client’s bail&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The judge&comma; who fixed May 30 for the hearing of the motions&comma; directed the lawyer to put the EFCC on notice&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>NAN reports that Ekwo had&comma; in the last adjourned date&comma; given the anti-corruotion commission May 30 as the last time the matter would be adjourned following the EFCC’s complaint that it had been unable to serve Okorocha despite several efforts&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The judge had threatened to strike out the case if the EFCC failed to produce the senator in the next adjourned date&comma; after two adjournments for his arraignment&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Operatives of the EFCC were said to have invaded Okorocha’s residence on Wednesday following his refusal to honour the anti-corruption commission’s invitation after he was alleged to have jumped the administrative bail earlier granted to him&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Okorocha was whisked away after some hours and remanded at the EFCC’s custody&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Okorocha&comma; an APC presidential aspirant&comma; is standing trial alongside others on allegations bordering on money laundering while he served as governor of Imo&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He and others were expected to be arraigned before Justice Ekwo on Monday&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&lpar;NAN&rpar;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;