Admin l Monday, December 04, 2017
IKOYI, Lagos, Nigeria – A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi today issued a bench warrant for the arrest of a former governor of Enugu State, Mr. Chimaroke Nnamani.
Mr. Nnamani, who was governor between 1999 and 2007, is facing a ten count charge of laundering about six billion naira instituted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Justice Chuka Obiozor also ordered the arrest of Mr. Nnamani’s aide and co-accused, Sunday Anyaogu.
Earlier, counsel to Mr. Nnamani, Mr. Shamsudeen Abubakar, told the court that his client, who is “severely sick,” had just undergone a heart surgery in the United States and is still recuperating in hospital.
Both defendants were first arraigned in 2007 alongside their companies: Rainbownet (Nig) Ltd; Hillgate (Nig) Ltd; Cosmo FM; Capital City Automobile (Nig) Ltd; Renaissance University Teaching Hospital; and Mea Mater Elizabeth High School.
In 2015, all the companies pleaded guilty to the charges but the trial of Messrs Nnamani and Anyaogu continued to stall due to the former’s frequent travels abroad to treat a heart ailment.
Justice Obiozor, the fourth judge to handle the matter, made it clear to the defence lawyer that he would not tolerate any attempt to further delay the trial. The matter has been adjourned till next week Thursday for re-arraignment of the defendants.
