COUNSEL to Fred Ajudua, lawyer and Lagos socialite on Thursday, gave reasons why the socialite could not be arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for allegedly defrauding a German company of $1 million.
Ajudua is standing trial before Justice Josephine Oyefeso of a Lagos State High Court Ikeja in two separate charges bordering on fraud and forgery.
Counsel to Ajudua, Mr Norrison Quakers (SAN) argued against Ajudua’s arraignment after Justice Oyefeso had ordered him into the dock to take plea, after throwing out an application challenging the relisting of the matter after it had been struck by a brother Judge, Justice Morenikeji Obadina.
“My Lord, the business of the day as listed in your cause list is a ruling and not arraignment,
“Trial starts when the defendant is arraigned, we have not been served with the charge and other processes, I have also spoken to the defendant and he told me that he did not see the charge.
“I will have to seek for a short adjournment to properly study the charge.
“My client is in poor health and he has only one functional kidney which is deteriorating fast, he also needs time to seek medical attention,” Quakers told the court.
Mr S. A. Atteh, Counsel to the EFCC, however refuted Quaker’s argument about his client not seeing the charge.
“My Lord, it is only when the plea of the defendant is taken that he is properly before the court. The defendant cannot deny not seeing the charge as he was served in 2005, when the matter commenced,” Atteh said.
Quakers, upon receiving the charge, noted some irregularities which were in the charge which was that Ajudua was charged under the Penal Code and not the Criminal Law of Lagos State of 2011 which is currently used for criminal cases.
Justice Oyefeso, acceding to Quakers’ request for an adjournment, fixed May 16 for the EFCC to file a formal application for arraignment.
The EFCC had on Feb. 13 re-opened a charge filed against Ajudua in 2005.
In the charge, the EFCC had claimed that Ajudua, an alleged serial fraudster, and one Joseph Ochunor, an accomplice, had some time in 1993 defrauded one Ziad Abu Zalaf of Technical International Ltd., a company based in Germany of $1m.
The fraud case had earlier been struck out by Justice Obadina in 2009 for want of diligent prosecution after Ajudua failed to make an appearance in court on 24 occasions.
Earlier during Thursday’s proceedings, Justice Oyefeso had in her ruling ordered that Ajudua should be arraigned by the anti-graft agency.
“This case was assigned to this court in November 2016 when the defendant became available within the jurisdiction.
“The prosecution applied that the matter be put on the cause list as the applicants were willing to prosecute the case diligently as witnesses are available to testify.
“On Feb. 9 the defence had raised a preliminary objection challenging the powers of the court to try a case that is struck out since 2009, stating the application of the EFCC was an abuse of court processes.
“When a case is struck out, it remains alive though in a comatose state, and it comes alive through the appropriate application to relist the case,” She said.
and then