The Supreme Court has struck out an application filed by an alleged fraudster, Fred Ajudua, challenging its earlier judgment in the ongoing $1.043 million fraud case involving Palestinian businessman Zad Abu Zalaf.
The apex court threw out the application after Ajudua filed a notice to withdraw the application to enable the Lagos Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja to hear his bail application.
The defendant was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Dada on a 12-count charge of fraud and conspiracy.
The anti-graft agency alleged that Ajudua conspired with one Joseph Ochunor, who is still at large, sometime in 1993, to defraud his victim, Zalaf of Technical International Ltd, a company based in Germany.
The EFCC further claimed that Ajudua and Ochunor forged receipts from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, presenting them as original documents to lend credibility to the alleged scam.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
At the resumed hearing of the matter before Justice Dada on Friday, the defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), informed the court that the defence had withdrawn its application at the Supreme Court, and it has been struck out, thereby clearing the way for the trial court to determine the pending bail application.
During Friday’s proceedings, defence counsel Ojo (SAN) continued the cross-examination of the third prosecution witness, Afanda Bashir Emmanuel, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Emmanuel testified that he had inherited the case and was not part of the initial investigation. When questioned about the existence of a police investigation diary.
Justice Dada consequently directed the prosecution to produce the records at the next adjourned date and adjourned the case until November 20 and 21, 2025, for continuation of the cross-examination.
Before the apex court’s decision, Ajudua had already submitted a notice to withdraw the motion at the lower court. Following this development, trial proceedings resumed on Friday, October 31, before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos.
Also, during the proceedings, Ojo continued the cross-examination of the third prosecution witness, Afanda Emmanuel, an investigator with the EFCC.
Emmanuel testified that he inherited the case and was not involved in the initial investigation.
When questioned about the existence of a police investigation diary, Justice Dada directed the prosecution to present the records at the next scheduled date.
The case, which began in 2005 before Justice M.O. Obadina of the Lagos State High Court, has suffered repeated delays as the defendant reportedly employed several legal technicalities to stall proceedings.
The matter has since been reassigned multiple times, first to Justice J.E. Oyefeso and later to Justice M.A. Dada, before whom Ajudua was re-arraigned on June 4, 2018.
