Nigeria’s Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, on Thursday, granted post-conviction bail to a former Director of Finance and Account at the Abia State Government House, Jones Udeogu, who was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment last year December.
Udeogu was convicted of N7.1bn and jailed alongside his principal, Orji Uzor Kalu, a former governor of Abia State, who bagged 12 years in prison.
Chief Solo Akuma SAN told the judge that Udeogu was diagnosed with prostate cancer three years ago at the Abia State Teaching Hospital and that in the course of carrying out tests on him, the hospital also discovered that he had tuberculosis.
Akuma said Udeogu was still making arrangements to book a date for surgery when he was convicted and sent to prison last December.
The judge ruled, “I am of the opinion that this application has disclosed a reasonable cause of action that the defendant’s health has greatly deteriorated and it cannot be salvaged by the doctor in the correctional service centre. Accordingly, this application is meritorious and succeeds.”
He granted the post-conviction bail to Udeogu at N50m with two sureties in like sum.
A similar application brought on December 23, 2019, by Orji Kalu seeking a post-conviction bail pending the outcome of his appeal against his conviction failed.