Rochas Okorocha, former governor of Imo, has asked a federal high court in Abuja to quash the money laundering charge of N2.9bn instituted against him.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arrested the senator representing Imo west after breaking into his Abuja home on May 24.
The commission had said the arrest was necessitated by Okorocha’s refusal to attend his trial in court.
He was then arraigned on a 17-count charge of money laundering to which he pleaded not guilty on May 30.
Okorocha was arraigned alongside Anyim Chinenye, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and five companies — Naphtali International Limited, Perfect Finish Multi Projects Limited, Consolid Projects Consulting Limited, Pramif International Limited, and Legend World Concepts Limited.
In a preliminary objection filed by Ola Olanipekun, his lawyer, Okorocha prayed for an order acquitting him of the allegations against him.
He described the suit as “unlawful, baseless, oppressive, and a gross abuse of the process of the court”.
He said a federal high court in Port Harcourt, on December 6, 2021, granted an application stopping his prosecution after faulting the process of investigation adopted by the agency.
Okorocha said since that order is still subsisting, the present charge by the EFCC “is an abuse of prosecutorial powers and judicial process”.
