SEBASTINE ADIGWE

Alleged N87.5b theft: Ex-Afribank MD, others challenge court’s jurisdiction.

A former Managing Director of Afribank Plc, Sebastine Adigwe and five other directors, have challenged the jurisdiction of an Ikeja High Court to try them over alleged theft.
Adigwe is standing trial alongside Osa Osunde, Isa Zailani, Chinedu Onyia, Henry Arogundade and Peter Ololo before Justice Olabisi Akinlade.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had charged the former bank executives before the court for allegedly stealing N87.5 billion belonging to the bank.
The six accused had in a preliminary Notice of Objection filed separately by their lawyers said the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
They are also seeking an order to quash the charges preferred against them on the grounds that the EFCC had no statutory powers under the Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2007 to prosecute the matter.
Other grounds include a plea that they were already facing similar charges at the Federal High Court, Lagos.
According to them, re-arraigning them at the Ikeja High Court is an abuse of court process and will amount to double jeopardy for them.
At the resumed hearing of the case on Thursday, Adigwe’s lawyer, Anthony Idigbe, told the court that the application dated June 7 had been served on the EFCC and that the defence was awaiting its reply.
The EFCC’s lawyer, Kola Awodein, however, asked the court for an adjournment to enable the prosecution to respond in writing to all the applications filed by the defence lawyers.
Hearing of the applications has been fixed for Oct. 13.