The Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja on Tuesday reserved ruling on the bail application of Ufoma Joseph, an oil fraud suspect, till May 7, 2026.
Justice Mojisola Dada fixed the date after taking arguments from counsel to the defence and prosecution on the bail application.
At the proceedings, defence counsel, Wole Akonni (SAN), informed the court that there were two applications before it and sought to withdraw the first application for abridgment of time, stating that it had been overtaken by events.
“We have two applications. The first has been overtaken by event, that is the abridgment of time. I will proceed to the business of the day,” he said.
Akonni then told the court that the matter was slated for the hearing of the bail application already filed and urged the court to admit the defendant to bail on the most liberal terms.
He further prayed the court to release the defendant to him pending the ruling on the bail application and the perfection of the bail conditions.
In opposition, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Babatunde Sonoiki, argued that the defendant posed a flight risk and should not be granted bail.
Sonoiki informed the court that the defendant was facing multiple charges in courts in Lagos and Abuja and would soon be arraigned by the Nigeria Police Interpol unit.
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“My Lord, the defendant is currently in Abuja and he has multiple cases in Lagos and Abuja. He will soon be arraigned again by Interpol, but administrative bureaucracy may make it difficult to bring him to court,” he said.
He urged the court to adjourn the bail application to April 13, noting that it might be difficult to produce the defendant in court within a shorter timeframe.
The prosecutor further alleged that the defendant had previously absconded after being granted administrative bail by the EFCC.
“Immediately the first defendant was granted administrative bail, he disappeared, became a fugitive and resorted to the use of fundamental rights enforcement action through his counsel as a tool to frustrate the complainant and stop his trial,” Sonoiki said.
Citing a counter-affidavit deposed to by an EFCC investigator, Idi Musa, the prosecution said the defendant failed to honour the terms of administrative bail granted to him.
“Upon conclusion of investigation, a prima facie case of obtaining by false pretence and forgery was established against him, and upon filing this charge before this court, all efforts to reach him and his sureties proved abortive,” he added.
He therefore urged the court to remand the defendant in a correctional facility pending the determination of the bail application.
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In her ruling, Justice Dada ordered the defendant to surrender his international passport to the EFCC and directed that he be remanded in EFCC custody pending his release to his counsel.
The judge subsequently adjourned the matter till May 7 for ruling on the bail application.
Joseph is standing trial alongside his company, Intermediate Investment Holdings Ltd., on a two-count charge of obtaining by false pretence and forgery involving $1.5 million.
The EFCC alleged that the defendant obtained the money from a complainant, Adebisi Adebutu of R28 Holdings Ltd., between April 2022 and October 2023 under the pretext of an investment in a petroleum development project, with assurances of reimbursement, development capital fees, and allocation of shares in the company.
The anti-graft agency also accused the defendant of forging a document titled “Term Sheet,” purportedly executed by two individuals to facilitate the transaction.
According to the prosecution, the alleged offences contravene Sections 1(1)(a) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and Section 363 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
