Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Monday, March 9, 2026, adjourned indefinitely (sine die) the trial of Fred Ajudua over an alleged $1,043,000 fraud.
Ajudua is standing trial for allegedly defrauding a Palestinian, Zad Abu Zalaf, of the sum of $1,043,000 (One million, forty-three thousand U.S. dollars) under false pretences.
The case, which began in 2005 before Justice M. O. Obadina of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, encountered several delays due to legal technicalities employed by the defendant that stalled the proceedings and complicated his arraignment.
The matter was subsequently reassigned to Justice J. E. Oyefeso and later to Justice M. A. Dada, before whom Ajudua was finally arraigned on June 4, 2018.
Following the denial of his bail by Justice Dada, Ajudua appealed to the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal, which granted him bail on September 10, 2018.
Dissatisfied with the appellate court’s ruling, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) appealed to the Supreme Court.
The Commission also filed a separate appeal with suit number SC/912C/2018, challenging the appellate court’s decision to transfer the case from Justice Dada to another judge to commence afresh (de novo).
Both issues were resolved in favour of the appellant (prosecution) by the apex court, which remitted the case to the Chief Judge of Lagos State to be assigned to Justice Dada for the continuation of a speedy trial and its determination within the shortest possible time.
At the proceedings on Monday, the defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, informed the court that the defendant had filed a motion on notice before the court.
“This matter was earlier adjourned for the continuation of trial. However, there is a supervening factor, which is the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on January 30, 2026, allowing the appeal against the ruling of the Lagos State High Court refusing the defendant bail,” he said.
Ojo further told the court that a Certified True Copy (CTC) of the judgment had been forwarded to the court and attached to the motion on notice filed by the defence on March 5, 2026.
According to him, the Court of Appeal granted bail to the defendant and also ordered that the substantive suit be remitted to another court to commence de novo.
The senior counsel to the defendant submitted that he was relying on the case of Ajudua v. FRN (2019), where the Court of Appeal gave a similar interpretation regarding the transfer of the case to start de novo.
He also informed the court that the complainant in the matter had appealed against the decision at the Court of Appeal.
“Until that judgment is set aside, the court must act on it. We have written a letter to the Chief Judge of Lagos State to reassign the case to another judge of the High Court of Lagos State,” he said.
Ojo argued that the present court no longer had the jurisdiction to continue with the case and could only direct that the case file be sent to the Chief Judge of Lagos State for reassignment.
He also informed the court that he was not relying on the motion filed on March 5, 2026, but on the judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on January 30, 2026.
In response, the prosecuting counsel, S. K. Atteh, told the court that he received the application late on Friday.
He added that although the Court of Appeal granted bail to the defendant, the judgment contained no order directing that the case be transferred to another court.
Atteh also informed the court that counsel to the defendant had filed a motion at the Court of Appeal seeking clarification or interpretation of the judgment on the issue of transferring the case to another judge of the High Court of Lagos State for trial to commence de novo, contrary to the earlier decision of the Supreme Court on the issue.
He urged the court to strike out the motion if the defence counsel was not relying on the application, which was still pending in the court file.
After listening to the submissions of both parties, Justice Dada struck out the motion on notice and adjourned the matter sine die (indefinitely).
Meanwhile, Ojo, SAN, counsel to Fred Ajudua, has also filed another motion at the Supreme Court on February 24, 2026, praying the apex court to set aside its earlier judgment delivered on May 9, 2025.
