Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the remand of Mr. Akintoye Akindele, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Duport Midstream Company Limited, Kuje Correctional Center, Abuja. Ta.
With Friday's ruling, Akindele will be remanded in custody until March 20, and the court will consider documents confirming the integrity of the bail previously granted, the judge said.
On March 1, shortly after he was indicted on charges of $5.6 million fraud, the court granted him bail in the amount of N750 million with two sureties of the same amount.
While granting bail, Judge Omotojo ruled that the defendant must meet all conditions attached to the bail by March 8, after which the start of the trial was postponed until March 15.
Some of the conditions are that the two sureties must own land property within the jurisdiction of the court. Additionally, the surety must swear an affidavit of means and must also deposit account statements with the registrar of the court.
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Justice Akira Omoto ruled that since the defendant appeared in court from his home, the court will grant him bail until March 8 at the FCT High Court, arguing that if the conditions are not met, the defendant will be remanded. New bail will be posted by March 8, 2024.
However, when the case came up for trial on Friday, the prosecuting lawyer, Mr Simon Ruff (SAN), attempted an oral motion to have the case transferred from the Federal High Court in Abuja to the Federal High Court in Lagos.
According to him, the proper jurisdiction for the defendant's trial is the Lagos region. The jurisdiction where the criminal act is said to have taken place is in Lagos and all the witnesses and evidence are in Lagos.
Although Akindele's lawyers led by Chief Superintendent James Onoja (SAN) opposed the police's oral request, the court rejected submissions from all parties, stressing that the transfer issue was one that the prosecution had to put in writing. .
“Transfer must be made by sworn evidence and not by oral application,” Ohonjo said, adding that prosecutors must not only file the application, but also state the reasons for the transfer and serve the same on the defendant. He added that it would be. Oppose the transfer by stating why the court should not grant the request.
At this point, Judge Omotoaki asked the lawyers to agree on a bail date so that the prosecution could take the necessary steps regarding the transfer application, and asked about the bail status granted to the defendant.
“We filed it last week, ahead of the specified date,” Akindele's lawyer said, but the judge said he had not seen it.
Mr Onoja, however, maintained that the documents had been submitted to the court and urged one of the registrars to confirm that the documents were already in the custody of the court.
The judge initially denied the request to examine the documents on the grounds that the documents were not in front of him, but added: “Until yesterday I requested all pending files and sat until 5:30 p.m. I didn't see the file,” he added. changed his mind after being persuaded by his defense, who argued that the defendant had some health problems that could worsen if he was remanded.
However, after carefully reading the file, Judge Omotojo found that the bail had not been completed by March 8, as ordered by the court.
According to his observations, the guarantor's letter of introduction is dated March 13th, while the affidavit of means is dated March 11th, three days after the counter deadline of March 8th. It is.
After the defendant's lawyer filed a petition to consider and extend the period for completion of bail, Justice Akira Omoto set March 20 for consideration of completion of bail and hearing on the application to transfer the case to the Lagos branch. It was postponed until of the Federal High Court.
At this point, the judge ruled, “the defendant is remanded to Kuje Correctional Center, Abuja.''
In the four counts filed against him by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the defendant is accused of misappropriating the sum of $5,636,397.01 and N73,543,763.25 belonging to Summit Oil International Limited.
Akindele and his company, the second defendant in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/570/2023, allegedly converted amounts received from Shell for personal use between 2017 and 2021. is said to have committed the act.
