Alleged $1,043,000 Fraud: Court Refuses Ajudua’s Fresh Bail Application

Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court, Ikeja, on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, refused a fresh bail application filed by Olalekan Ojo, SAN, counsel to embattled Lagos socialite and alleged fraudster, Fred Ajudua.

At the resumed hearing, Ajudua was present in court, accompanied by medical personnel from the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). His counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, informed the court that LUTH initially declined to release Ajudua, who is reportedly receiving special treatment, but allowed his presence in court for the day under medical supervision.

“I promised on July 23, 2025, that I would ensure the defendant appears in court today with medical support,” Ojo stated. “We are also ready to proceed with the trial, though it is only the living that can face trial,” he added.

Prosecuting counsel S.H. Atteh confirmed receiving the defense’s further and better affidavit the previous day and raised no objection to proceeding with the trial.

The prosecution called its third witness, Mr. Bashir Emmanuel Afanda, an operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), who gave detailed evidence of the investigative procedures carried out against Ajudua.

Afanda testified that in 2005, the Nigeria Police Force directed the EFCC’s special task force to take over certain fraud-related cases, including the one involving the defendant. The file was transferred to the EFCC for thorough investigation. He explained that in 2011 he was instructed to study the case file, which contained a petition to the Inspector-General of Police, attached with receipts purportedly issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and a forged contract document from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

He said the EFCC wrote to both the CBN and NNPC for verification and conducted forensic analysis on the documents through the Commission’s forensic laboratory in Abuja in 2013. He confirmed that responses were received from all relevant institutions, and interviews were conducted with the complainant. He also stated that the defendant’s statement was found in the case file.

When the prosecution sought to tender some of the documents through the witness, the defense objected. Ojo argued that several of the documents were mere photocopies and lacked proper certification. He also submitted that the witness was not the author of the forensic report and that the prosecution failed to establish why the report could not be tendered by its original author. He insisted that unless the author was dead or no longer with the EFCC, the prosecution could not lay the required foundation.

Justice Dada ruled on the objections. She admitted two of the documents as exhibits (marked P8 and P9) and rejected two others, including the CBN correspondence and the forensic report, for lacking proper certification and foundation.

Following the documentary dispute, Ojo moved his fresh bail application, dated and filed on July 22, 2025. He supported the application with a 12-paragraph affidavit and written address, citing the defendant’s chronic liver disease and his deteriorating health as grounds for bail. He confirmed that the prosecution’s counter affidavit was served on July 29, 2025.

In response, Atteh opposed the application with a seven-paragraph counter affidavit, attaching a Supreme Court judgment as exhibit. He argued that the application ought to have been directed to the apex court rather than a lower court and urged the court to refuse the application.

In her ruling, Justice Dada stated: “In view of the applications currently pending at the Supreme Court, I am constrained to take any decision on this fresh bail application. I will abide by the decision of the apex court.”

She then adjourned the matter to October 10, October 31, and November 20, 2025, for continuation of trial.

Fred Ajudua is standing trial for allegedly defrauding a Palestinian businessman, Zad Abu Zalaf, of $1,043,000 under false pretenses.

The case, which began in 2005 before Justice M.O. Obadina of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, encountered several delays due to legal technicalities employed by the defendant. It was subsequently reassigned to Justice J.E. Oyefeso and later to Justice M.A. Dada, before whom Ajudua was finally arraigned on June 4, 2018.

Following the denial of his bail by Justice Dada, Ajudua appealed to the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal, which granted him bail on September 10, 2018. Dissatisfied with the appellate court’s ruling, the EFCC appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Commission also filed a separate appeal with suit number SC/912C/2018 challenging the appellate court’s decision to transfer the case from Justice Dada to another judge to commence afresh (de novo). Both issues were resolved in favour of the prosecution by the apex court, which ordered Justice Dada to continue the trial of the case.