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Oba Otudeko ordered a appearance in the Federal High Court, entering his plea through Judge Chukwujekwu Aneke.
A judge in the Federal High Court of Lagos ordered Nigerian billionaire Oba Otudeko to appear in person on suspicion of 30 billion fraud.
At a case hearing on Monday, President Chukwujekwu Aneke stressed that attendance at Otudeko was required to sign his request before resolving any jurisdictional challenges.
According to him, “Everything brought by the defendant or the defendant on criminal charges can be taken before the request is made.”
The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has filed 13 charges against Otudeko, chairman of Honeywell Group and three other defendants. The allegations involve fraud and money laundering in connection with the 12.3 billion loans received between 2013 and 2014, as well as other loan charges, including N3 billion n3 billion n3 billion.
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Defense attorneys led by Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) believe the matter is civil, not criminal, and claim the loan has been fully repaid. They filed an application to challenge the jurisdiction of the court, which the judge delayed until the request to enter Otudeko.
“The court is bound by the cited ruling. Therefore, I agree to prosecute, i.e., based on the current legal situation, the defendant has not applied for in criminal matters to be filed or determined by the court before arraignment,” the judge said.
The court has taken the case to May 8, 2025 to allow Otudeko to appear in court.
Background of the case
The fraud lawsuit against Otudeko dates back to August 2024, when Adesuwa Ezenwa, a former relationship manager at First Bank, testified before the National Industrial Court that a loan worth billions of naira was directed to companies associated with Otudeko.
The EFCC formally accused Otudeko and three other suspected of economic fraud. The person in other cases allegedly was Soji Akintayo, former group managing director of Nigeria No. 1 Bank, a front board member of Honeywell Four Mills Plc; and Anchorage Limited, a company associated with Otudeko.
The allegations against them were that between 2013 and 2014, the defendants fraudulently obtained multiple loan commanders from First Bank, including Rs 12.3 billion, 5.2 billion, 6.2 billion, 6.1 billion and 1.5 billion, and acquired acquisitions from these companies for certain companies.
But Otudeko flew to London under the guise of medical illness.
The EFCC has been on fraud, and although the defendants said they had paid the loan to the court, the EFCC insisted that the credit facility used by the defendants was fraudulent between 2013 and 2014.
