A judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Justice Lesley Wike, has threatened to issue an arrest warrant against Olalekan Ogunbayo, former president of the NNPC Staff Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society, over his repeated failure to appear in court for arraignment in an alleged ₦582 million…...
A judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Justice Lesley Wike, has threatened to issue an arrest warrant against Olalekan Ogunbayo, former president of the NNPC Staff Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society, over his repeated failure to appear in court for arraignment in an alleged ₦582 million fraud case.
Justice Wike issued the warning on Monday after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) complained that Ogunbayo had failed to appear for the third time.
EFCC counsel, R. U. Adagba, told the court that only the second defendant, Abolade Nurudeen, was present when the matter was called.
Adagba said Ogunbayo, who had been granted administrative bail, had allegedly failed to honour the terms of the bail, adding that efforts to locate him and serve him with the charge had been unsuccessful.
The prosecution said his absence had stalled the arraignment on two previous occasions and urged the court to issue a bench warrant to facilitate his arrest and production in court.
Citing Sections 35, 113 and 114 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, Adagba argued that the court had the power to order the defendant’s arrest.
However, defence counsel, Innocent Adoo, opposed the application, arguing that Ogunbayo could not be arraigned without proper service of the charge.
Adoo said a defendant must be informed of the allegations against him and given adequate time to prepare his defence, adding that the requirement for service could not be waived.
He also told the court that Ogunbayo remained on administrative bail and was unaware of the scheduled arraignment.
According to the defence counsel, efforts had been made to contact Ogunbayo, who was reportedly in Warri and unable to secure a flight to Abuja for Monday’s proceedings.
Adoo urged the court to adjourn the case to allow both defendants to appear and take their pleas.
In his ruling, Justice Wike adjourned the matter in the interest of justice to enable Ogunbayo to appear for arraignment. The judge, however, warned that the court would take the necessary steps if he failed to attend the next sitting.
The case was adjourned until November 23 for arraignment.
The defendants are facing eight counts bordering on alleged criminal misappropriation, abuse of office, corrupt practices and obtaining money by false pretence in connection with the sale of the cooperative society’s property at Plot 50, Karsana North, Abuja.
The prosecution alleged that Ogunbayo, as president of the society, conspired with Nurudeen, who operates under the name Abolade Nurudeen & Co., in January 2024 to misappropriate proceeds from the transaction.
In one of the counts, the defendants were accused of dishonestly misappropriating ₦582 million realised from the property sale.
Ogunbayo was also accused of allegedly receiving ₦100 million, ₦10 million and ₦50 million through different bank accounts in connection with the transaction.
The prosecution further alleged that Nurudeen received ₦180 million into an account belonging to his firm after representing that the property had been sold for ₦1 billion.
Both defendants were also accused of involvement in an alleged ₦160 million corrupt transaction.
The allegations have yet to be determined by the court, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.