Alex Enumah in Abuja
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, has threatened to order the arrest of a former President of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Staff Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society, Olalekan Ogunbayo, over his failure to seem in court docket and take his plea in an alleged N582 million fraud cost.
Justice Lesley Wike issued the menace on Monday following complaints by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that Monday’s proceedings was the third time Ogunbayo refused to seem in court docket for arraignment on the alleged monetary misappropriation of the society’s funds.
When the matter was known as, prosecution counsel, R. U. Adagba knowledgeable the choose that solely the 2nd defendant, Abolade Nurudeen was in court docket.
The lawyer complained that Ogunbayo was granted administrative bail however jumped the bail and that each one efforts to find him for service of the cost have been unsuccessful.
The EFCC acknowledged that Ogunbayo had stalled the arraignment twice as a consequence of absence in court docket and utilized that bench warrant be issued in opposition to him to facilitate his arrest and manufacturing in court docket.
Adagba cited Sections 35, 113, 114 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, arguing that the court docket has the ability to order arrest of the defendant.
However, counsel to the defendants, Innocent Adoo, opposed the arrest warrant software, arguing that arraignment in a prison trial couldn’t proceed with out correct service of the cost on the defendant.
He submitted {that a} defendant have to be knowledgeable of the allegations in opposition to him and given satisfactory alternative to organize his defence, including that service couldn’t be waived by any celebration.
Adoo advised the court docket that Ogunbayo was nonetheless on administrative bail and was unaware of the scheduled arraignment.
He defined the defence had used the knowledge out there to it to speak with Ogunbayo who was mentioned to be in Warri and unable to safe a flight to Abuja for right this moment’s proceedings.
The defence counsel consequently urged the court docket to adjourn the matter to allow each defendants to seem and take their pleas in the curiosity of justice.
Reacting, Justice Wike held that in the curiosity of justice, the matter be adjourned to allow the primary defendant made himself out there for arraignment.
The choose, nevertheless, warned the court docket would take the required steps if Ogunbayo fails to seem on the following adjourned date.
She subsequently adjourned till November 23 for arraignment.
The anti-graft company had filed an eight-count prison cost bordering on alleged prison misappropriation, abuse of workplace, corrupt practices and acquiring cash by false pretence over the sale of the cooperative society’s property at Plot 50, Karsana North, Abuja.
The prosecution alleged that Ogunbayo, the society’s president, and Nurudeen, who operates underneath the identify and elegance of Abolade Nurudeen & Co., conspired in January 2024 to misappropriate proceeds from the transaction.
In one of the counts, the defendants had been accused of dishonestly misappropriating N582 million realised from the sale of the property.
Ogunbayo was additionally accused of allegedly receiving N100 million, N10 million and N50 million via completely different financial institution accounts in reference to the transaction.
The prosecution additional alleged that Nurudeen acquired N180 million into an account belonging to his agency after representing that the property had been offered for N1 billion.
Both defendants had been additionally accused of involvement in an alleged N160 million corrupt transactions.
