The Federal High Court, Lagos state has granted post-conviction bail to a former director of finance and account at the Abia State Government House, Jones Udeogu, who is serving a 10-year jail term.
Udeogu was convicted of N7.1bn and jailed alongside his principal, Orji Uzor Kalu, a former governor of Abia State, who was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.
Akuma told the judge that his client was suffering from prostate cancer and tuberculosis. He said 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.
kuma explained further that his client was still making arrangements to book a date for surgery when he was convicted and sent to prison last December.
In his ruling, Justice Liman said he was satisfied that Udeogu had disclosed reasonable cause of action to qualify for a post-conviction bail.
The judge said: “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.”