The presidential bid of Senator Rochas Okorocha may have suffered setbacks as a Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday granted an order remanding the former Governor of Imo State in the custody of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged money laundering.
Senator Okorocha is a presidential hopeful on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress which had scheduled its presidential primary for next weekend, 6-7 June, 2022.
He was alleged to have laundered funds to the tune of N2.9 billion while serving as governor of Imo State.
Okorocha was arraigned alongside Anyim Nyerere Chinenye, Naphtali International Limited, Perfect Finish Multi Projects Limited, Consolid Projects Consulting Limited, Pramif International Limited, and Legend World Concepts Limited as 2nd to 7th defendants respectively.
During court proceedings on Monday, Okorocha denied all the charges.
Okorocha, through his four-team legal counsel of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANs, comprising Okey Amaechi, Solomon Umor, Ola Olanipekun, and Kehinde Ogunwumiju, also pleaded for a bail application.
Justice Inyang Ekwo who took his plea, however, ruled that Okorocha and other defendants should be remanded in the EFCC custody and adjourned till Tuesday for the hearing of bail application.
With the judgment, Okorocha is likely to miss the ongoing presidential screening exercise of the ruling APC which starts today.
