The supreme court has dismissed the judgment of the court of
appeal in Lagos that granted bail to Fred Ajudua, a one-time Lagos socialite,
in the alleged $1.04 million fraud trial.
In a unanimous judgment on Friday, the apex court ordered
Ajudua to be remanded at the correctional centre.
THE CASE
Ajudua is standing trial in a case that began in 2005 for
allegedly defrauding Zad Abu Zalaf, a Palestinian, of $1,043,000.
The case was initially assigned to Morenike Obadina, a judge
at the Lagos high court, but arraignment did not take place.
The case was later reassigned to Josephine Oyefeso, another
judge, before it was reassigned again to Mojisola Dada.
He was finally arraigned on June 4, 2018.
At the arraignment in June 2018, Dada, the trial judge,
denied Ajudua’s bail application due to the prolonged delay suffered by the
case.
He approached the court of appeal in Lagos, which granted
him bail on September 10, 2018.
However, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC), which is prosecuting the case, took the matter to the supreme court.
THE JUDGMENT
The apex court revoked the bail granted to Ajudua by the
appeal court and ordered the reinstatement of the ruling of the lower court,
which declined the bail application.
The supreme court directed that the chief judge of Lagos
state should reassign the case to Dada to continue the trial.
PREVIOUS CASES
This is not the only alleged fraud case that had been
instituted against Ajudua.
The former socialite had also been in the court for
allegedly defrauding Ishaya Bamaiyi, former chief of army staff, of about $8.39
million.
In 2003, Ajudua and his co-defendant were also arraigned
over alleged fraud against two Dutch businessmen – Remy Cina and Pierre Vijgen.
He was later discharged by the Ikeja high court.
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