Dr. Chinyere Igwe, a member of the House of Representatives, was arraigned on Wednesday in a Federal High Court sitting in the capital of Rivers State, almost 13 days after he was detained in Port Harcourt with $498,100.
Igwe, a supporter of PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, represents Port Harcourt Federal Constituency 2 in the National Assembly’s Green Chamber.
The police charged him with one count of money laundering.
At the outset of hearings, the prosecuting counsel, M. N. Nweke, said Igwe on February 24 agreed that he got a cash payment of the aforementioned sum which he neither notified to the CBN nor reported its transit to the Nigeria Customs Service.
He said that several provisions of the 2011 Money Laundering and Prohibition Act were broken by the measure.
Igwe pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him, and although his attorney requested bail, the police attorney objected.
After hearing both sides of the argument, Justice Stephen Daylop-Pam, the presiding judge, postponed the case to March 14, 2023, so that the federal lawmaker’s attorney, Ibisiki Tonye, could evaluate the bail request while the suspect would still be in police custody.
The criminal trial’s start date was also disclosed by Justice Daylop-Pam as May 4, 2023.
After a report on the accused’s health, he then ordered that he be sent to the Nigeria Police Clinic for medical assistance.
On the eve of the presidential election, police officers conducted a stop-and-search along Aba Road and detained Igwe with $489,100 and a list for the distribution of the money.