Court orders arraignment of Otudeko, others over alleged 12.3bn Fraud

A federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Monday have ordered that the former chairman of of First Bank of Nigeria plc Oba Otudeko and its ex managing director Bisi Oredanya be arraigned on alleged 12.3b fraud.

Delivering ruling on Monday, Justice Aneke, held that it is now a settled principle of law , that the plea of a defendant must first be taken, before any application.

The court relied on the authority of Onnoghen V FRN, Bello v FRN among others, and held that an arraignment must be taken before any preliminary objection.

“The issue before the court is whether the processes can be taken before the arraignment of the defendants.

“Any preliminary objection to the validity of a charge can only be heard after plea is taken; this is now a condition precedent and this court is bound by the decision.

“I agree with learned counsel for the prosecution, no preliminary objection can be taken without arraignment of the defendants. “This is my view ” the court held 

Olanipekun then informed that parties were exploring settlement and urged the court to adjourn for report of settlement .

In a swift reaction, counsel for prosecution Bilkisu Buhari- Bala thanked the court for the ruling and urged it to grant an adjournment for either arraignment or report of settlement 

Despite repeated arguments by counsel arguing that the matter should be for report of settlement, Buhari maintained her application that the case should be adjourned for either arraignment or report of settlement. The court has now adjourned the case for report. 

According to the charge, the defendant was said to have committed the offence sometime in September 2023, at Lagos Island . He was said to have impersonated one Amanda Glory on Instagram by holding out himself as such, in order to obtain fraudulent gains 

The offence contravenes the provisions of sections 22(2)(b) of the Cyber Crime Prohibition Act 2015 and section 18(1)(a) of the EFCC Act 2004.