(Press Release) A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja on Wednesday, October 23, 2013, struck out an application filed by Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, seeking to quash charges preferred against Oluwaseun Ogunbambo who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC for his alleged involvement in a N4.4 Billion oil subsidy scam. Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo struck out the application, the same way an earlier application by Adebayo Olanipekun, SAN seeking the quashing of charges against Ogunbambo was also dismissed.
Agbakoba had on May 15, 2013 urged the court to quash the charges against Ogunbambo on the grounds that “the applicants are charged by counts 1, 2 and 3, under the Advanced Fee fraud and other Fraud related Offences Act 2006, being an Act of the National Assembly. The National Assembly has no legislative competence to enact the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud related offences Act 2006. For this reason, the said Act is unconstitutional and the respondent has no valid power to lay Counts 1, 2 and 3”.
But EFCC’s counsel, Francis Usani, on Wednesday, prayed the court to strike out the application for lack of merit. Usani submitted that “Agbakoba has never been a counsel on record to Ogunbambo in the current case”.
Following Ogunbambo’s earlier application for a leave to change counsel, he was on Wednesday represented by R. A. Oluyede Esq. whose inability to produce an acknowledgement copy of Ogunbambo’s previous lawyer’s concession further stalled proceedings.
Justice Onigbanjo insisted that the court needed to sight the acknowledgment copy of the concession for record purposes.
Justice Onigbanjo then adjourned the case to December 9, 10 and 12th, 2013 for continuation of trial and to enable Ogunbambo’s lawyer file a further affidavit for the acknowledgement of Olanipekun’s concession.
Nasaman Oil Services Limited., Mamman Nasir Ali, Christian Taylor and Oluwaseun Ogunbambo are standing trial for allegedly obtaining billions of naira from the Federal Government of Nigeria by falsely claiming that the sum represented subsidy accruing to Nasaman Oil Service Limited under the Petroleum Support Fund. They were first arraigned on Monday November 26, 2012 on a 13-count charge bordering on conspiracy to obtain money by false pretences, forgery and uttering of false document.
