Ex-Union Bank director, Emmanuel Nwude, two lawyers jailed over forgery

The Special Offences Court sitting in Lagos has sentenced a former director of Union Bank of Nigeria, Emmanuel Nwude, alongside two lawyers, Emmanuel Ilechukwu and Rowland Kalu to one year imprisonment each for forgery and illegally dealing in forfeited property.

Justice Mojisola Dada delivered the judgment on Wednesday after years of trial, according to a statement issued by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In 2005, Nwude was sentenced to 25 years in prison after deceiving Nelson Sakaguchi, then a director at Banco Noroeste, a Brazilian bank, into paying $242 million for a non-existent airport.

On March 2, 2018, Nwude, Ilechukwu and Kalu were arraigned on an amended 15-count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery, uttering false documents, dealing in forfeited property, attempting to pervert the course of justice and fabricating evidence.

According to the EFCC, between 2011 and 2012 the trio attempted to transact business involving a property located at Plot Y, Mobolaji Johnson Street, Oregun, Ikeja, without authorisation from the authorities.

Prosecutors said the defendants were aware that the property had already been forfeited to victims of crime as restitution following a judgment delivered on November 18, 2005, in a case involving Nwude and several others.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.

During the trial, the prosecution, led by Nnaemeka Omewa, called five witnesses and tendered several documents that were admitted as evidence by the court.

After the prosecution closed its case on March 19, 2019, Nwude filed a no-case submission, arguing that the prosecution had failed to establish a case against them.

However, in a ruling delivered on September 19, 2019, the court dismissed the application and directed the defendants to open their defence.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, Nwude approached the appeal court, but the appeal was dismissed and he was ordered to return to the trial court to continue his defence.

On February 22, 2021, Nwude opened his defence, testified on his own behalf and called three witnesses before closing his case.

His co-defendants, Ilechukwu and Kalu, also testified and closed their defence on February 27, 2025.

Following the conclusion of the defence, the court directed the parties to file their final written addresses and initially adjourned the matter to June 25, 2025.

The defendants filed their final submissions at different times, with the third defendant submitting his response to the prosecution’s address on June 20, 2025.

However, when the matter came up again on June 25, 2025, proceedings were adjourned to September 25, 2025.

Subsequently, Babajide Martins, Lagos director of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), appeared in court and informed the judge that he had been instructed to take over the case following a petition submitted to his office by the second defendant, Ilechukwu.

The judge noted that the case had already reached the stage of adopting final written addresses and questioned why the DPP intended to take over proceedings that were almost concluded.

Martins was unable to provide a clear explanation during the proceedings.

The court thereafter adjourned the matter to November 5, 2025, to allow the first defendant’s counsel file a reply on points of law to the prosecution’s final address before adoption.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Dada found the defendants guilty on counts one, two, three, four, five, six, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15.

However, the court acquitted them on counts seven and eight, which related to making false statements to a public officer.

The judge subsequently convicted the three defendants and sentenced each of them to one year imprisonment.