Court Grants Ex Imo Governor Ohakim N270 Million Bail for N270 Million Fraud

Last month, it was reported that former Imo State governor, Ikedi Ohakim, has been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N270 million fraud.

And now, Punch is reporting that a Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday granted Ohakim, bail in the sum of N270 million.

Ohakim is expected to produce a surety resident in Abuja to guarantee the bail.

According to the report:

Justice Adeniyi Ademola, in his ruling on the bail application, filed by Ohakim, also ordered the prosecuting agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, ‎to submit the passport and other travel documents seized from the former governor to the Deputy Chief Registrar of the court.

The judge was silent on where the accused person should remain pending when he would meet the bail conditions.

At the hearing of the bail application on Thursday, the defence counsel, Chris Uche (SAN), urged the court to grant his client’s prayer.

He said his client, whose passport had been seized by the EFCC, had remained faithful to the bail conditions granted him by the anti-graft agency.

But the prosecutor, Mr. Festus Keyamo, opposed the bail.

He argued that rather than granting bail to the accused person‎, the court should grant an accelerated hearing.

But the judge in his ruling held that the accused person had placed sufficient materials before the court to warrant granting him bail.

The EFCC had on Wednesday arraigned Ohakim on three counts of fraud, including making cash payment of $2.29m (N270m) for a property in Asokoro, Abuja.

The prosecution also accused the former governor of collaborating with Tweenex Consociates H.D. Ltd. ‎to conceal the ownership of the property by drafting an agreement portraying him as a tenant in the property.

Ohakim, who was governor of Imo State between May 2007 and May 2001, was also accused of failing to declare the property as part of his assets while under EFCC arrest in November 2008.

The offences were allegedly committed in 2008 in violation of section 15(1)(d) and section 14(1)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004, respectively.

Ohakim is father of Adanna Steinacker, one half of popular married couple/social media sensation #AdannaDavid.