Supreme Court overturns 419 Kingpin Fred Ajudua’s bail & sends him back to jail
The Supreme Court on Friday overturned the bail granted to former socialite Fred Ajudua, ordering his return to correctional custody in a longstanding $1 million fraud case involving a German company.
In a unanimous decision, the apex court ruled that the Court of Appeal erred in granting bail and directed that the criminal trial, currently before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State High Court, must resume without further delay.
Ajudua, who was initially charged before Justice Josephine Oyefeso of the Ikeja High Court, had his case re-filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and reassigned to Justice Dada.
At his re-arraignment on July 6, 2018, Justice Dada denied bail, citing prolonged delays spanning over 13 years. “I am not persuaded. This case is one of the oldest in Lagos State. Bail is refused,” she ruled, ordering Ajudua to be remanded in prison.
However, Ajudua’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, successfully appealed the decision at the Court of Appeal in Lagos, where Justice Garba ruled that bail was a constitutional right, allowing Ajudua to remain free under previous bail conditions.
The EFCC, dissatisfied with the appellate ruling, escalated the matter to the Supreme Court, which has now affirmed the lower court’s original position and cleared the path for the trial to proceed in earnest.
