The Court of Appeal in Abuja has dismissed the bail application filed by former Acting Accountant-General of the Federation, Anamekwe Nwabuoku, who is serving a prison sentence after being convicted of laundering and diverting N868.4 million.
Gatekeepers News reports that Nwabuoku had approached the appellate court after appealing his conviction, asking to be released on bail pending the determination of the appeal.
Through his lawyer, Norrison Quakers, he argued that his health had deteriorated and that the medical facilities available at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, where inmates from the Kuje Correctional Centre receive treatment, were inadequate for his condition.
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), however, opposed the application, maintaining that the former accountant-general had not presented sufficient medical evidence to justify his release.
The anti-graft agency also argued that prison authorities had continued to provide him with appropriate medical care and warned that granting bail would weaken public confidence in the fight against corruption.
In a unanimous decision, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Justice Adebukola Banjoko dismissed the application for lack of merit, allowing Nwabuoku to remain in custody while his appeal against the conviction is pending.
Nwabuoku was sentenced in March 2026 to 72 years’ imprisonment after a Federal High Court found him guilty on nine counts of money laundering and fraud involving N868.4 million. Although he received eight years on each count, the court ordered that the sentences run concurrently.
