Ajudua To Remain In Prison

•Fred Ajudua

•Fred Ajudua: formally charged with $8.4mn scam

Notorious fraudster, Fred Ajudua will have to stay longer in prison over his $1.6m fraud charge as an Ikeja High Court presided by Justice Olubunmi Joseph adjourned ruling on his application to quash the charge against him till tomorrow.

Ajudua is being remanded at the Kirikiri Prison, Apapa, Lagos,  southwest Nigeria on the orders of the judge for jumping bail.

His counsel, Alex Agba, this morning asked the court to quash the charge against Ajudua, arguing that each of the cases he is being charged for should be treated based on their own peculiarity

In a Motion On Notice dated 7 June, 2013, which is supported by a 16-paragraph affidavit, Agba argued that since the complainant has withdrawn the case and filed an affidavit before the court for this purpose, the court should quash the charge.

According to him, further hearing in the matter will be a waste of time as the witness that is supposed to testify had travelled down to Nigeria to indicate his unwillingness to continue with the matter

In his opposition to the application, however, the EFCC counsel, Mr. Wemimo Ogunde (SAN), stated that it is not known in law for a victim to come to court to file an affidavit of discontinuance on which the defence will predicate its application for the charge to be quashed

Ogunde stated that in a case that is part-heard and other witnesses had testified, a court cannot quash the charge without analysing what other witnesses had said

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This, he added, cannot be done as it is speculative and according to him, the court cannot speculate until the prosecution concludes its case and the defence files a no-case submission before the trial started

Earlier, Ajudua’s counsel had moved an application that the court should restore the bail revoked from his client on 15 December, 2005 with the same condition and an additional surety or grant a fresh bail with conditions the court deem fit while trial lasts.

The bail application was, however part heard as Ajudua’s counsel asked for more time to place further proof before the court to back his claim that his client was suffering from a complicated ailment

Justice Oyewole initially stood down the application to enable Ajudua furnish the court with additional proofs but later adjourned tll tomorrow for ruling on the application to quash the charge.

Ajudua was subsequently taken back to prison custody, pending when his bail application will be fully heard.

—Henry Ojelu

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