Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja on 30 July 2025, refused the fresh bail application filed by defense counsel to Fred Ajudua, Olalekan Ojo SAN.
At today proceeding, the defendant was present I court with some medical personnel from LUTH
Olalekan Ojo SAN said
On 23 July 2025. I said I will do everything possible that I will make sure defendant is here today with the assistance of medical personnel from Lagos State University Teaching Hospital LUTH and am aware of a letter written by the dissission in charge that it’s not in their practice to release someone on special treatment to come to court.
Because of this, they allow him to come to court today with medical personnel.
Also, we are prepare for the trial to continued while we are says only leaving can face the trial.
The prosecution counsel S. H. Atteh said the complainant counter affidavit on his bail was served to us yesterday
Ojo said we manage to served further and better affidavit.
I moved that the court should look at this application before the trial will start today.
Presecution respond we are not aware any letter from the luth and we have been served with further and better affidavit by the counsel.
Court Call the witness PW 3 Afanda Bashir Emmanuel
Ojo I have an objection to this witness because he did not have his statement. Anything he will says here today, am just heard it for the first time
Atteh response that the statement of this witness was file with additional prove. It was filed together with additional statement on 17 September 2018.
However, court allowed Witness to give his evidence, he was an operative of EFCC.
He confirmed that he know the defendant, in his narration he said “sometimes in 2005, the Nigeria police for directed his special force unit to hand over some cases to us in EFCC. One of it is defendant case, the file was further transferred to Aff for investigation,.
Sometimes In year 2011 I was directed then by the head of the team to study the fille In the case file there was a letter esrler written by Nigeria police force to the central bank of Nigeria and NNPC,
Letter was written to Nigeria chamber of commerce in 1993 and forwarded to Ig Police and now directed that the petition wá annex with recived of payment propetedly issued by CBN.
A letter of contract issue by NNPC. Going through the document emanating from the defendant and letters acknowledging recived the payment used documents the forms part of the letter received by efcc
The Commission went to central bank and NNPC for clarification
I furtherace of investigation, the letter of forensic analysis was written to forensic lab in Abuja efcc sometime in July 2013
We recived response from CBN, NNPC, and forsesic laboratory of efcc in Abuja
Further more, I interview the complainant, sometime in 2018, recently we did report of investigation with CBN and NNPC.
EFCC took over the file, yes
In the record we find I the file, there was. Statement of the defendant there.
Tender documents through the witness
Olalekan Ojo object to some documents, and urged court not to accept it as evidence based on certification, also that most are photocopy not original. That this charge was filed since 2005 and waited till 2013, eight years after the case was commenced.
Also Pw3 is not the author of the forensic report, it can only be tender by the author, unless the prosecution can lay a nessesery foundation that the author is death, or he has left efcc. The prosecution did not do anything by way of laying foundation. Pw 3 is a stranger to this documents.
In response, Prosecuting counsel, Atteh urged the court to admit them as exhibits.
Ruling of the court : no objection to one and two but objection to three and four
One and two admitted while three & four rejected as exhibits
CBN documents and forensic analysis examiner rejected.
EFCC letter to NNPC exhibit P8 and response
Cross examination by defense counsel Olalekan Ojo, we have demonstrated to do the needful to make this trial proceed. Prayer for short adjournment.
Apply to move his fresh bail application
Dated 22 July 2025 and filed the same date. Respectively praying to admitted him to bail pending the determination of the case. With 12 paragraph affidavit. Also, written address is support this application. The complainant response were served to us on 29 July, 2025, yesterday afternoon.
That the Defendant having chronic liver disease,
Prosecuting counsel, Atteh file a canter affidavit on seven paragraph with exhibits attached which is the judgement of the supreme court. He should have directed this application to Supreme Court not lower court. He urged the court to refused this application.
Justice Dada ruling :
“In veiw of the applications file at the Supreme Court, am constrain to take any dicisson in respect of this instant application, allited by defence counsel, I will abide by the decisions of the supreme court”
Adjourned to 10, 31 October, and 20 November 2025 for continuation of trial.
Ajudua is standing trial for allegedly defrauding a Palestinian national, Zad Abu Zalaf, of the sum of $1,043,000 (One Million, Forty-Three Thousand U.S. Dollars) under false pretenses.
The case, which began in 2005 before Justice M.O. Obadina of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, encountered several delays due to legal technicalities employed by the defendant that stalled the proceedings and complicated his arraignment.
The matter was subsequently reassigned to Justice J.E. Oyefeso and later to Justice M.A. Dada, before whom Ajudua was finally arraigned on June 4, 2018.
Following the denial of his bail by Justice Dada, Ajudua appealed to the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal, which granted him bail on September 10, 2018. Dissatisfied with the appellate court’s ruling, the EFCC appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Commission also filed a separate appeal with suit number SC/912C/2018 challenging the appellate court’s decision to transfer the case from Justice Dada to another judge to commence afresh (de novo).
Both issues were resolved in favour of the prosecution by the apex court which ordered Justice Dada to continue the trial of the case.
Comments