Segun Atanda/
The Supreme Court today allowed an appeal made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), against the decision of the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division which granted bail to a socialite, Fred Ajudua.
According to the EFCC, Ajudua is standing trial for allegedly obtaining the sum of $ 1,043,000 from a Palestinian, Zad Abu Zalaf, in fraudulent circumstances.
At the beginning of trial in 2005 before Justice M.O Obadina of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Ajudua employed several legal technicalities to stall proceedings which made his arraignment difficult until the matter was re- assigned to Justice J. E Oyefeso and later Justice M. A Dada before whom he was arraigned on June 4, 2018.
Ajudua challenged his denial of bail at the Lagos Court of Appeal and the appellate court granted him bail on September 10, 2018. Dissatisfied with the judgment, the EFCC approached the apex court in suit number SC/ 51C/ 2019. challenging the judgment of the appellate court.
The Commission also entered another appeal before the apex court in suit number SC/912C/2018 against the Court of Appeal Lagos’ judgment ordering the case to be transferred from the court of Justice Dada of the Lagos State High Court to another judge for the case to start de novo.
Delivering judgment on the appeals on Friday, the Supreme Court allowed the EFCC’s appeals and revoked Ajudua’s bail granted to him by the Court of Appeal, Lagos and reinstated the ruling of Justice Dada which declined to grant him bail.
The Supreme Court also ordered that Fred Ajudua be remanded in the Correctional Centre). The Court further directed that the Chief Judge of Lagos State should reassign the case to Justice Dada to continue the trial.
The apex court further held that the appeal in appeal no SC/912C/2019 has become academic since the payer in that appeal was against an order of the Court of Appeal, Lagos, transferring the case to another court to start the case de novo.
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