A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja on Friday dismissed an application by a former Managing Director of the defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc, Mr Erastus Akingbola, seeking to quash the charges of stealing 47 billion Naira filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The EFCC is prosecuting Mr Akingbola along with his business associate, Mr Bayo Dada. Both men are charged with defrauding the bank (now Access Bank Plc) and stealing its money in 2009 while Akingbola was its Managing Director.
Presiding Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo, in his ruling, dismissed the two separate applications filed by Akingbola and Dada, seeking to quash the 22-count charge against them.
The judge held that he found no merit in the applications.
With this ruling, the court has effectively assumed jurisdiction to hear the case.
Mr Akingbola’s counsel, Mr Wole Olanipekun, had argued that the state High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the charges because they were capital market and banking related issues
Professor Taiwo Osipitan, who represented Mr Dada, had also maintained that only the Federal High Court had exclusive jurisdiction on the charges.
But the judge dismissed the lawyers’ contentions and held that the charges before him were of stealing, receiving stolen property and advance fee fraud, on which his court had jurisdiction.
The court also distinguished the matter from the one in which the Court of Appeal quashed the charges instituted against a former Managing Director of Finbank Plc, Mr Okey Nwosu, before another judge of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja.
Justice Lawal-Akapo said: “The offences canvassed in Okey Nwosu’s case had their roots in capital market. “In the present case, the offences charged are stealing, receiving stolen property and advance fee fraud”.
The judge also dismissed the allegation by Mr Olanipekun that the charges instituted against his client amounted to double jeopardy and abuse of court process as similar charges had been instituted against Mr Akingbola at the Federal High Court, Lagos.
The judge held that the defence failed to substantiate the allegation, as it did not produce the charges filed at the Federal High Court as evidence to back its claim.
He agreed with the prosecuting counsel, Mr Godwin Obla, that section 251(3) of the Constitution had preserved the power of the court to try the defendant for the charges.
He, therefore, fixed June 23, 24 and 25 for re-arraignment and trial.
The defendants were first arraigned on May 31, 2011 before Justice Habeeb Abiru, now Justice of the Court of Appeal, who was then presiding over the case at the Lagos High Court, Ikeja.
Trial had been concluded and the matter had been adjourned for adoption of parties’ final written addresses when Abiru was suddenly elevated to the Court of Appeal.
Abiru had adjourned the matter till November 15, 2011 but he was sworn in along with 11 others as a Justice of the Court of Appeal on November 5, 2011.
Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo, who took over the matter, was later transferred out of the Criminal Division of the Lagos High Court, after the defendants were re-arraigned before him.
The matter was then re-assigned to Justice Lawal-Akapo.