The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Friday, refused to order the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to release the detained former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha on bail.

The court, in a ruling that was delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, rejected an ex-parte application the erstwhile governor brought to secure bail from EFCC custody.

Operatives of the anti-graft agency had on Tuesday, arrested Okorocha at his Abuja residence in an operation that lasted over seven hours.

The arrest followed an alleged refusal by the former governor to make himself available for trial in a 17-count money laundering charge that is pending against him before the court.