From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A Federal High Court will on February 6 2023 ruled on an application by a former governor of Imo state, Senator Rochas Okorocha, seeking to quash the 17-count criminal charge filed against him by the Federal Government.
Okorocha is standing trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over alleged N3.1 billion fraud. The former governor was arraigned alongside Anyim Nyerere, Naphtali International Ltd, Perfect Finish Multi Projects Ltd, Consolid Projects Consulting Ltd, Pramif International Ltd and Legend World Concepts Ltd.
Justice Ekwo fixed the date on Friday, after counsel in the matter adopted their written addresses and other processes as their final arguments.
Ola Olanipekun SAN, who announced appearance for Okorocha, urged the court to grant the application and quash the charge.
On his part, the EFCC lawyer, K. N Ugwu urged the trial judge to find and hold that the motion on notice filed by the 1st defendant (Okorocha), seeking to quash the charge, lacks merit and should be dismissed accordingly.
Similarly, Darlington Ozurumba, representing Consolid Projects Consulting Ltd (5th defendant), also adopted his motion on notice, and urged Justice Ekwo to quash and dismiss the entire suit for being an abuse of court process.
In opposition to the application, the prosecution counsel told the court that the 5th defendant cannot benefit from a judgement it was not part of.