Appeal Court Sets Aside Supreme Court Ruling In Fred Ajudua’s Fraud Case, Orders Trial Moved To Yola, Not Lagos

The Court of Appeal has set aside a previous judgment of the Supreme Court in the $1.43million fraud case involving Lagos socialite, Fred Ajudua, and ordered that the trial continues — this time at its Yola Division rather than in Lagos.

Fred Ajudua has been standing trial over allegations linked to a $1.43 million advance-fee fraud, a case that dates back to the late 1990s and early 2000s.

A source familiar with the proceedings told SaharaReporters that the appellate court not only nullified the apex court’s earlier ruling but also directed that all proceedings connected to the case be relocated to Yola, Adamawa State.

“The Court of Appeal has set aside the judgment of the Supreme Court in the $1.43 million fraud case involving Lagos socialite Fred Ajudua.”

According to the source, Ajudua was quietly taken to Yola following the ruling, rather than returned to Lagos as many had expected.

“The appellate court further directed that proceedings connected to the matter be heard at its Yola Division rather than Lagos, and ordered that the original trial judge continue to preside over the case to its conclusion.

“The development marks the latest chapter in a protracted legal battle that has spanned decades, raised questions about jurisdiction and due process, and drawn sustained public scrutiny,” the source said.

Meanwhile, in March 2025, the Supreme Court of Nigeria reversed the bail earlier granted to Lagos socialite Fred Ajudua, who is standing trial over his alleged involvement in a $1.43 million fraud case.

The apex court, in a unanimous decision delivered by a five-member panel, ordered that Ajudua be returned to prison custody and directed that proceedings in the criminal charges against him be resumed.

The case dates back to a petition by the Embassy of the State of Palestine in a letter dated August 26, 1993, addressed to the then Minister of Foreign Affairs and copied to the Inspector General of Police.

The letter alleged that Ajudua obtained approximately $1.43 million by false pretence from Ziad Abu Zalaf, a Palestinian based in Germany.

Following investigations into the allegations contained in the letter, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed a 12-count charge against Ajudua before the High Court of Lagos State sitting in Ikeja.

The EFCC alleged that Ajudua conspired with one Joseph Ochunor, who remains at large, to obtain money by false pretence from Ziad Abu Zalaf of Technical International Ltd, a division of Mystic Company Ltd, a German-based company.

The commission further alleged that, with intent to defraud, Ajudua and Ochunor obtained $268,000 on April 2, 1993, and an additional $225,000 on May 12, 1993, from Zalaf.

The EFCC also claimed that Ajudua and Ochunor, in an effort to legitimise the alleged fraud, forged receipts from the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and presented them as genuine to the foreign victim.

Shortly after his arraignment, Ajudua’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo, filed an application seeking his release on bail pending the conclusion of the trial, citing his client’s serious health challenges.

However, the Lagos High Court, presided over by Justice Mojisola Dada, refused the bail application and ordered that the defendant submit himself to prosecution.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, Ajudua appealed the trial court’s decision and secured a favourable judgment at the appellate court.

 A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal overturned Justice Dada’s decision and granted him bail.

In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Garba, the appellate court held that bail was the appellant’s constitutional right.

Not satisfied with the ruling, the EFCC approached the Supreme Court, seeking to overturn the appellate court’s decision.

In its judgment on the appeal marked SC/CR/51/2019, the Supreme Court set aside the bail granted to Ajudua on December 10, 2018, by the appellate court.

In the lead judgment delivered by Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme, the apex court faulted the appellate court’s decision, stressing that it lacked jurisdiction to grant bail after declaring the brief of argument supporting Ajudua’s appeal incompetent.

The Supreme Court ruled that once Ajudua’s brief of argument was deemed incompetent and struck out, there was no basis for the appellate court to proceed further.

““It is crystal clear that the lower court was in line with the law when it declared the appellant’s brief of argument incompetent and struck it out.

“At that point, the appellant’s (Ajudua’s) appeal was extinguished. There was, therefore, nothing more to consider in that appeal. The lower court, at that point, had no jurisdiction to proceed further. It had become functus officio,” the apex court stated.

The court further held that the appellate court’s consideration of arguments contained in the incompetent brief amounted to an exercise in futility.

““This appeal, having been determined on the issue of jurisdiction alone, renders the issue of bail inseparable from the appeal itself.

“This appeal succeeds and is hereby allowed. The decision of the trial court dated July 5, 2018, refusing bail to the respondent (Ajudua), is hereby restored.

“The respondent is to be remanded in prison custody. This case is remitted back to the Chief Judge of Lagos State for assignment to the same trial judge, Justice M. A. Dada, for the continuation of speedy trial and determination within the shortest possible time,” the Supreme Court had held.(SaharaReporters)