A’Court stops Akingbola’s N47bn fraud trial

The Lagos Division of the Appeal
Court has ordered the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission to
stop the trial of a former Managing
Director of the defunct
Intercontinental Bank, Erastus
Akingbola, charged with N47.1bn
theft before the Ikeja Lagos State
High Court.
Akingbola, alongside Bayo Dada,
had been charged before Justice
Lateef Lawal-Akapo on 22 counts
relating to the offence.
But the accused through their
lawyers, Chief Wole Olanipekubn
(SAN), and Prof. Taiwo Osipitan
(SAN), had filed a preliminary
objection to the charges, wherein
they argued that the Lagos State
High Court lacked the competence
to assume jurisdiction over the
matter.
However, in a May 2, 2014, ruling,
Lawal-Akapo had dismissed the
defendants’ preliminary objection
and assumed jurisdiction over the
matter.
Dissatisfied, Akingbola and Dada
approached the appellate court
seeking an order upturning the
lower court’s ruling.
Ruling on the appeal on
Wednesday, Justice Amina Augie in
a judgement supported by Justices
Samuel Oseji and Abimbola
Obaseki-Adejumo, held that the
lower court judge took a narrow
view of the matter when it
dismissed the appellants’
preliminary objection and assumed
jurisdiction over the matter.
According to Augie the decision of
the appellate court in the case of
Okey Nwosu vs EFCC, where the
court stated that the state High
Court had no jurisdiction over
capital market-related issues, was
too instructional to be ignored.
The appellate court berated the
trial judge for turning a blind eye to
that authority even when it was
brought to his attention. Justice
Augie said the lower court failed in
its duty as an unbiased umpire by it
refusing to study thoroughly the
processes presented before it.
“It is his duty to examine the
materials brought before him. It is
the role of the judge to do justice
in adjudicating all cases brought
before him,” she held.