Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an order for the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Duport Midstream Company Limited, Dr Akintoye Akindele, to be remanded at the Kuje prison in Abuja.
The News has it that Akindele will be held in custody until March 20, pending the verification of his bail conditions.
It is worth noting that he was granted bail on March 1, with a bail sum of N750 million and two sureties of equal value, following allegations of fraud amounting to $5.6 million.
Justice Omotosho, in his ruling on the bail application, emphasized that the defendant is required to fulfill all the conditions attached to the bail on or before March 8. The trial is scheduled to commence on March 15.
One of the conditions stipulates that the two sureties must possess landed property within the jurisdiction of the court. Additionally, the sureties are required to provide an affidavit of means and deposit their statements of account with the court registrar.
According to Daily Post, Justice Omotosho further stated that since the defendant appeared in court from his residence, he would be allowed to enjoy the bail granted by the FCT High Court until March 8. However, failure to meet the conditions of the new bail by March 8, 2024, will result in the defendant being remanded in custody.
However, during the trial on Friday, the prosecution attorney, Simon Lough, SAN, made an oral application to transfer the case from the Federal High Court, Abuja, to the Federal High Court, Lagos.
Lough argued that the proper jurisdiction for the defendant’s trial is the Lagos division, as it is where the alleged offense took place and where all the witnesses and evidence are located.
Despite objections from Akindele’s lawyers, led by Chief James Onoja, SAN, the court refused to hear submissions from either party, emphasizing that the prosecution must submit their request for transfer in writing.
“Transfer is not by oral application, it has to come through affidavit evidence”, Omotosho noted.
He stressed that the prosecution would besides filing the application, state the grounds for the transfer, serve same on the defendant, who will then either agree or object to the transfer, giving reasons why the court should not grant the request.
Subsequently, Justice Omotosho, who asked the lawyers to agree on a date for an adjournment to enable the prosecution do the needful in respect of the transfer application, asked about the position of the bail granted to the defendant.
“We submitted last week before the date given to us”, Akindele’s lawyers said.
“I have not seen it”, the judge reportedly responded.
Despite the judge’s initial reluctance to examine the documents, citing that they were not currently in his possession, Onoja stood firm in his assertion that the documents had been delivered to the court, leading one of the registrars to confirm their presence in the court’s custody.
He argued further saying: “Yesterday I asked for all pending files, I sat until 5.30pm, I didn’t see the file”. He changed his mind after persuasion from the defence lawyer, who claimed that the defendant has some health challenges that may get worse if remanded.
He also urged the judge not to punish the defendant for the failure of the documents to get to him on time.
However, Justice Omotosho after perusing through the file observed that the bail was not perfected before March 8, as ordered by the court.
According to his observation, while the letter of introduction of the sureties was dated March 13, the affidavit of means was dated March 11, 3 days after the March 8, deadline for perfection.
“I bent backwards based on the conditions of the earlier bail granted him but he did not meet it”, the court stated.
After pleas by the defendant’s lawyer to consider and extend the period for the perfection of the bail, Justice Omotosho then adjourned till March 20, for consideration of the bail perfection as well as hearing on the application for transfer of the case to the Lagos division of the Federal High Court.
The judge held that in the meantime, “the defendant shall be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Center”, in Abuja.
In the four-count charge brought against him by the office of the Inspector General (IG) of Police, the defendant was accused of diverting the sum of $5,636,397.01 and N73,543,763.25, belonging to Summit Oil International Ltd.
Akindele and his company, which is the second defendant in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/570/2023, were said to have committed the act between 2017 and 2021 when they alleged
