Akingbola refuses to open defence, faults EFCC’s case

Posted by admin EFCC Politics Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

May 29, 2012 by Ade Adesomoju 1 Comment

Former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc (now Access Bank Plc), Mr. Erastus Akingbola, on Monday refused to open his defence at a Lagos High Court in Ikeja contrary to the court’s schedule.

Instead, he filed an application of no-case-submission, arguing that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which closed its case on April 5, had failed to establish any prima facie case against him.

Akingbola, who was arraigned along with the General Manager of Tropics Securities Limited, Mr. Bayo Dada, for allegedly stealing about N47bn belonging to the bank, urged the court to hold that the prosecution had failed to prove the “ingredient of stealing” against him.

However, the EFCC on Monday insisted that there were sufficient evidence of stealing against the accused.

The anti-graft agency, through its counsel, Mr. Emmanuel Ukala, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, asked the court to direct the accused to open their defence, saying the application was “a ploy to delay the trial and determination of the case”.

The court adjourned till Wednesday for ruling on the application.

Earlier, Akingbola’s counsel, Mr. Deji Sasegbon, SAN, had told the court that the accused would not be willing to open their defence, urging it to hear his application of no-case-submission first.

This drew strong opposition from EFCC’s counsel, Ukala, who maintained that it was already late for the accused to file an application of no-case-submission, having earlier given an impression that they were ready to open their defence.–Punchwp_posts