Alleged N47.1bn theft: Akingbola absent from court to open defence •As EFCC stalls trial of ex-Afribank’s boss

THE ongoing trial of the former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc (now Access Bank), Dr Erastus Akingbola, was stalled on Monday, as he did not appear in court to open his defence in the case instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

At the resumed hearing of the matter before Justice Habeeb Abiru of a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, the EFCC, represented by its legal counsel, Mr Ayodeji  Arowolo, informed the court that a letter was received from the lead counsel for Akingbola, Chief Felix Fagboungbe, asking for a vacation of the dates fixed for commencement of their defence.

The ground adduced in the letter by the defence counsel was that the defendants were, at the same period, appearing before another court in a civil suit and suggested some dates for consideration for the commencement of defence in the trial.

Speaking on behalf of the defence, Mr Grant Onwuka confirmed the arrangement, adding that the letter was at their instance, because the defendants had to appear in a civil matter before another court.

The prosecution also told the court that they would not be objecting the application for adjournment made by the defence.
Consequently, Justice Abiru adjourned the matter till May 28, 2012.

Akingbola and associate, Bayo Dada, the General Manager of Tropics Securities Limited, were facing a 21-count charge of theft of N47.1 billion belonging to Intercontinental Bank.

In another development, Justice Olabisi Akinlade of a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, on Monday, for the second time, frowned on the conducts of the legal representatives of the EFCC in the ongoing
trial of the former Managing Director of Afribank Plc, Sebastine Adigwe and six others.

The court showed disappointment over the inability of the prosecution team, led by Kola Awodein and Abubakar Mahmud, to call its witness and open its case.

According to Justice Akinlade, what happened at the resumed hearing of the matter on Monday was a replica of the action of the prosecution during the last proceeding, when she gave a bench ruling for trial to commence.

In view of the opposition put up by the defence, the judge adjourned the matter till June 29, with an order that the prosecution team must file any further amendment or additions to its proof of evidence before the next adjourned date.

-Tribune

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Posted by admin on May 22 2012. Filed under EFCC Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry