N4.7bn fraud: Court summons Oyo AG over Ladoja Ramon Oladimeji Justice Mohammed Idris of the Lagos State High Court on Wednesday said he would not hesitate to order the arrest of the Oyo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluseun Abimbola, should he fail to honour a subpoena issued on him to appear in the criminal trial of a former governor of his state, Rashidi Ladoja. The judge also threatened to order the arrest of an official of the Oyo State Ministry of Justice, Yinka Fatoki, who was said to have been served with a court’s summons dated February 20 to produce some documents relevant to Ladoja’s case in court. Ladoja is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission before Justice Idris for an alleged fraud of N4.7bn. He is facing eight charges bordering on conspiracy and money laundering alongside a former Oyo State Commissioner for Finance, Waheed Akanbi. At the resumed proceedings in the case on Wednesday, Ladoja’s lawyer, Mr. Bolaji Onilenla, complained to the judge that he was being incapacitated because the Oyo State Attorney General and Fatoki had refused to make available certain documents he needed to prosecute his client’s case. Onilenla said despite being issued with summons to appear in court with the documents, Abimbola and Fatoki were nowhere to be found. One of the documents, which he said he wanted to tender through the second prosecution witness, Mr. Adewale Atanda, was the mandate for the disposal of Oyo State’s share under Ladoja’s watch as governor. Onilenla said, “If by tomorrow (Thursday) the Oyo Attorney General does not produce the documents, we shall be compelled to invoke the consequences of non-compliance. “They have not offered any excuse but have been treating the order of court with disdain and levity. “The documents sought to be produced are quite central and germane to our defence. We will apply that a warrant be issued against them – we don’t care who they are.” Reacting to Ladoja’s lawyer’s complaint, Justice Idris said the court’s record had shown that Abimbola and Fatoki were duly served with the court’s summons and subpoena. The judge said having been properly served, Abimbola and Fatoki had no right not to appear in court, stressing that should his jurisdiction be invoked he would not hesitate to order their arrest. Justice Idris said, “This court frowns on public officers who refuse to appear in court when summons have been issued. They have no right to refuse to appear. “Therefore, when this court is properly called upon, the court will issue a warrant for their arrest and production in court if they refuse to appear. “Let the Attorney General and Fatoki be warned that they must appear in court.” Meanwhile, under cross-examination by Onilenla, the second witness for the EFCC, Atanda, noted that a team of lawyers hired by Ladoja to challenge his impeachment by the Oyo State House of Assembly in 2005, initially demanded a fee of N50m but later increased it to N350m. The witness said, “When there was success at the Court of Appeal and a date had been fixed at the Supreme Court, the team of lawyers said the initial fee was just for the High Court, and that they didn’t know it would get to the Supreme Court. “So, they revised their fees to N350m. Ladoja promised them that if we’re successful at the Supreme Court, we’ll pay the amount because we didn’t have money then. “They demanded for a good faith payment, which was why I took a loan and paid them N35m.” Further proceedings in the case have been adjourned till Thursday (today). The charges against Ladoja and Akanbi border on money laundering and unlawful conversion and of funds belonging to Oyo State to their own. In one of the counts, Ladoja and Akanbi were accused of converting a sum of N1,932,940,032.48 belonging to Oyo State to their personal own, using a Guaranty Trust Bank account of a company, Heritage Apartments Limited. The EFCC claimed that they retained the money sometime in 2007, despite their knowledge that it was proceeds of a criminal conduct. In another instance, Ladoja was accused of removing a sum of £600,000 from the state coffers in 2007 and sent it to Bimpe Ladoja, who was at the time in London. The ex-governor was also accused of converting a sum of N42m belonging to the state to his own and subsequently used it to purchase an armoured Land Cruiser jeep. He was also accused of converting a sum of N728,600,000 and another N77,850,000 at separate times in 2007 to his own. The EFCC claimed that Ladoja transferred the N77, 850,000 to one Bistrum Investments, which he nominated to help him purchase a property named Quarter 361, Ibadan, Oyo State. The EFCC told the court that Ladoja and Akanbi acted contrary to sections 17(a) and18 (1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2004 and were liable to be punished under sections 14(1), 16(a) (b) and 18(2) of the same Act. The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty upon the charges being read to them. Copyright PUNCH. All rights reserved. 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