2023: APC screens Okorocha, Bankole, others

The immediate past governor of Imo State, Sen. Rochas Okorocha, has been screened by the All Progressives Congress (APC) seven-man 2023 Presidential Screening Committee ahead of the party’s presidential primaries.

Okorocha, a senator representing Imo West in the Senate, was screened by the party on Tuesday night.

He had been under the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commision (EFCC) over an alleged N2.9 billion fraud case.

The senator was, however, granted bail by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday and was ordered to pay N500 million for his bail with one surety in like sum.

The possibility of Okorocha appearing before the APC presidential panel for screening had been a topic of political discourse following his ordeal in the hands of the EFCC.

He was the last aspirant to be screened on Tuesday night by the presidential screening committee led by the former APC National Chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun.

Other aspirants screened by the committee were Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Senate President, Ahmad Lawan; former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio; Governors Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), and Yahaya Bello (Kogi).

Others screened were former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole; oil magnate, Tein Jack; and a few others.

The APC presidential screening committee had on Monday screened 12 presidential aspirants, including Pastor Tunde Bakare and one of the party’s leaders, Sen. Bola Tinubu.

Governor Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State, former Governor of Ogun State, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun; former Governor of Zamfara State, Sani Yerima; and the former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; were also screened on Monday.

Others screened on Monday were former Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba; Pastor Felix Nicholas, the only female presidential aspirant, Mrs Uju Ken-Ohanenye; Sen. Ajayi Boroffice; former Senate President, Ken Nnamani; and Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State.

The Star