Alleged N800m Theft: Court Grants ex-Anambra Gov Aspirant Bail

A Magistrate Court has granted ex-Anambra State governorship aspirant, Walter Okeke, bail to the tune of N100 million.

Okeke was remanded for over one month Corrections Centre in Port Harcourt over the alleged theft of oil drilling equipment worth over N800 million.

The Chief Magistrate, A.O. Amadi Nna, granted Okeke bail of N100 million with two sureties of the same amount.

Other conditions include that the surety must be up to Grade level 14 in the Rivers State Civil service and must have landed property within the jurisdiction of the Court.

Also, the property documents must be verified by the prosecution.

When the matter was called up on Monday, the Chief Magistrate ruled on the application for bail and the objection raised by the prosecution led by Godday Amadi and granted the accused bail with a surety with the like sum of N100 million.

Also, an affidavit of means from a Grade Level-14 officer of the Rivers State Ministry must be deposited (original copy) with the original copy of his appointment letter with the court.

The Court also said each of the parties must deposit two of their passports and an affidavit of means which must be present and available.

Speaking with newsmen outside the courtroom, counsel to the defendant, Oluchukwu Ulasi, expressed gratitude for the bail, .saying they would go about perfecting it.

He however observed that the bench warrant against his client had been vacated since December 13, 2022.

He said: “What happened today was that you recall that on December 13, 2022, the defendant took a plea and, thereafter, we applied for his bail and the court adjourned the proceedings of the ruling on respect of our bail application to today.

“So, all things being equal, we’ll try and see how we can meet those conditions,” he said.