The immediate past governor of Abia State, Mr. Theodore Ahamafuele Orji, and four others, were today arraigned before Aba High Court of Abia State, for allegedly misappropriate the sum of N47 billion.
Orji and his co-defendants were arraigned before the court presided over by Justice Lilian Abai, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Others arraigned alongside Theodore Ahamafuele Orji were: his son, Engineer Chinedum Orji, Dr. Philip Nto, a former Commissioner of Finance for Abia State, Obioma King, a government contractor and Romas Madu, former Director of Finance for Abia State,
They were arraigned before the Chief Judge on a 16-count charge bothering on conspiracy to steal and convert billions of naira meant for various government programs.
Specifically, they are accused of misappropriating N22.5 billion allocated for security votes from 2011 to 2015.
They were also accused of stealing N13 billion from a loan facility granted by Diamond Bank. And for illegal conversion of N12 billion from the Paris Club refund.
Lastly, they are also accused of converting N10.5 billion from a loan granted by First Bank, meant for the Abia State government and its local councils, along with N2 billion from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) funds designated for small and medium enterprises.
At the beginning of the proceedings, the lead prosecutor, Mr. Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), requested that the court registrar read the charges aloud to the defendants to allow them to enter their pleas.
Pinheiro emphasized the importance of ensuring that the defendants fully understood the charges.
All five defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
However, lawyer to the defendantse counsel, including Bode Olanipekun (SAN) (represented the first defendant), Chikaosulu Ojukwu SAN appeared for the second defendant?, K. I. Oleh Esq., Okey Amechi SAN, and Isaac Anya Esq., filed bail applications on behalf of their clients.
While the prosecutor did not object to the bail requests, they prayed the court to use its discretion when determining the conditions of bail.
After a short stand down, Justice Abai granted the defendants bail and adjourned till June 18 and 19, for trial.
