Akingbola Asks Court to Quash N47.1bn Theft Charge against Him

The former Managing Director of the defunct Intercontinental Bank, Erastus Akingbola, Wednesday asked an Ikeja High Court to quash the alleged N47.1 billion theft charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Akingbola is standing trial alongside one of his aides and General Manager of Tropics Finance Limited, Bayo Dada, for allegedly stealing N47.1 billion belonging to the bank.

At the resumed hearing of the matter before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo Wednesday, Akingbola, in an application dated July 4 and filed by his counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), said the charge against him was unconstitutional, incompetent and illegal.

Olanipekun told the court that Akingbola was charged to court by the EFCC for stealing under Section 390(7) of the Criminal Code Laws of Lagos State 2003.

He said the EFCC had no powers to prosecute criminal matters before a state high court without a fiat issued by the state’s attorney-general.

“We are talking about a constitutional issue, we are talking about a fundamental issue; we are talking about a recondite issue.

“We are saying the federal government cannot prosecute a case of stealing before a Lagos High Court under the Lagos State Criminal Code.

“If your lordship overrules us on this issue, it means the federal government can come before the state high court to prosecute a case of reckless driving or environmental offences,” Olanipekun said.

He said the proof of evidence did not disclose the offence of stealing against his client, adding that this was a sufficient ground to quash the charge and urged the court to strike out the entire charge dated May 4, 2011.
But EFCC counsel, Mr. Emmanuel Ukala (SAN), urged the court to dismiss the application, stressing that the state attorney-general had no monopoly to initiate criminal proceedings before the state high court.

“The EFCC has the power to initiate proceedings in any matter relating to financial and economic crimes contemplated by the EFCC Act,” Ukala said.

He said Section 260 (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State 2011 provides that “an objection to the sufficiency of evidence shall not be raised until the close of the prosecution’s case.”

Justice Onigbanjo adjourned the matter till July 15 to rule on Akingbola’s application.

The judge, however, dismissed a similar application filed by Dada’s counsel, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan (SAN) for being an abuse of court process.

Justice Onigbanjo, in his short ruling hinged his decision on Dada’s counsel’s insistence to resist the prosecution from relying  on the counter affidavit it filed against Akingbola’s application for his motion.

He said the defence decision and its filing of the motion on July 9, which jeopardised the court’s trial schedule fixed on February amounted to an abuse of court process.

THISDAY