Embattled former governor of Imo State, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, was Thursday, granted bail by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja in the sum of N270m as the court ruled on Ohakim’s bail application.

Justice Ademola Adeniyi, the presiding judge, also ruled that the former governor must produce a surety resident in Abuja to guarantee the bail.

He 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.

He was however silent on where the accused person should remain pending when he would meet the bail conditions, though he had on Wednesday, ordered the accused person to remain in EFCC custody pending the hearing of his bail application on Thursday.

Ohakim was arrested by the EFCC on Tuesday after he was accused of 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 number 1098 Cadastral Zone A04, Asokoro District, otherwise known as Number 60, Kwame Nkurumah Street, Asokoro in Abuja.

An amount alleged to be above the threshold approved for an individual, going by the provisions of Section 1 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2004.

The three count charges against him read, “That you, Ikedi Ohakim, on or about the January 26, 2013 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, while under arrest for an offence under the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Establishment Act, 2004 knowingly failed to make a full disclosure of your assets by not declaring your ownership of the property known and described as Plot No. 1098 Cadastral Zone A04, Asokoro District- it is also known as No.60, Kwame Nkurumah Street, Asokoro, Abuja and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 27(3)(c) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Establishment Act, 2004 and punishable under the same section.”

The former governor had, however, pleaded not guilty
to all the three  him, even as the EFCC counsel, Festus Keyamo, prayed the court to remand the accused person in prison custody pending trial in view of his plea.

The Judge had ordered that Ohakim be remanded in the EFCC Custody and adjourned hearing on the bail application to Thursday.

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