Breaking: Court orders arrest of former Enugu Governor Chimaroke Nnamani

A Federal High Court Sitting in Lagos has ordered the arrest of the Former Governor of Enugu state, Chimaroke Nnamani.
Ex-Enugu Governor, Chimaroke Nnamani
Presiding Justice, Chuka Obiozor, who issued the bench warrant for the arrest of Mr. Nnamani said it was because Mr. Nnamani’s lawyer, Shamsudeen Abubakar, failed to give reasonable evidence as to why the ex-Governor was absent in court today.
Nnamani is being prosecuted for alleged money laundering to the tune of N4.5 billion, an offense he committed during his tenure as Governor of Enugu State between 1999 and 2007.
He was charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The court also ordered the arrest of the aide, Mr Anyaogu.
Justice Obiozor ordered the arrest of the former governor after rejecting photographs presented to the court by Mr. Nnamani’s lawyer who claimed his client had undergone a heart surgery in the United States and so, could not be brought to the court during his re-arraignment.
However, the prosecution said the photographs brought by the lawyer as proof had been taken in 2014.
Mr. Nnamani was first arraigned alongside his aide, Sunday Anyaogu and six firms ten years ago.
Justice Obiozor who after ordering for the ex-Governor’s arrest, adjourned the case till December 14th for the re-arraignment of the two defendants.
Both defendants were first arraigned in 2007 alongside their companies: Rainbownet Nigeria Limited; Hillgate Nigeria Limited; Cosmo FM; Capital City Automobile Nigeria Limited; Renaissance University Teaching Hospital; and Mea Mater Elizabeth High School.
In 2015, all the companies pleaded guilty to the charges but the trial of Nnamani and Anyaogu continued to stall due to the former’s frequent travels abroad to treat a heart ailment.
Justice Obiozor who is the fourth judge to handle the matter has made it clear to the parties in the case that he would not tolerate any attempt to further delay the trial.