A Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, has adjourned the trial of alleged fraudster, Fred Ajudua, over a $1,043,000 fraud case.
The presiding judge, Mojisola Dada, on Monday ordered that the matter be adjourned sine die after striking out a motion on notice filed by the defence.
Ajudua is being prosecuted for allegedly defrauding a Palestinian businessman, Zad Abu Zalaf, of $1,043,000 under false pretences.
The case, which dates back to 2005, was initially instituted before Justice M.O. Obadina of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, but has suffered repeated delays over the years due to legal technicalities that stalled the defendant’s arraignment.
The matter was later reassigned to Justice J.E. Oyefeso and subsequently to Justice Dada, before whom the defendant was eventually arraigned on June 4, 2018.
Following the refusal of his bail application by Justice Dada, Ajudua approached the Court of Appeal in Lagos, which granted him bail on September 10, 2018.
Dissatisfied with the decision, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed an appeal before the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The anti-graft agency also challenged the appellate court’s directive transferring the case from Justice Dada to another judge for a fresh trial.
The apex court resolved the issues in favour of the prosecution and remitted the case to the chief judge of Lagos State for reassignment to Justice Dada for continuation of the trial and speedy determination.
However, at Monday’s proceedings, defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), informed the court that the defendant had filed a motion on notice following a fresh development.
Ojo said the matter was previously adjourned for continuation of trial, but that there was a “supervening factor” arising from a judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal on January 30, 2026, which allowed an appeal against the earlier ruling of the Lagos High Court refusing the defendant bail.
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He told the court that a certified true copy of the judgment had been forwarded to the court and attached to the motion filed on March 5, 2026.
According to him, the appellate court granted bail to the defendant and also ordered that the substantive case be remitted to another court to commence de novo.
He added that he was relying on the decision in Ajudua v. FRN (2019), where the Court of Appeal gave a similar interpretation on transferring the matter for a fresh trial.
Ojo further informed the court that the complainant had already appealed the decision at the Supreme Court.
“Until that judgment is set aside, the court must act on it. We have written to the chief judge of Lagos State to reassign the case to another judge,” he said.
He argued that the present court lacked jurisdiction to continue with the trial and could only direct that the case file be forwarded to the chief judge for reassignment.
However, prosecuting counsel, S.K. Atteh, told the court that he received the defence application late on Friday.
Atteh maintained that although the Court of Appeal granted bail to the defendant, the judgment did not contain any directive transferring the case to another court.
He further informed the court that the defence had already filed a motion at the Court of Appeal seeking clarification of the judgment on whether the case should be reassigned to another judge for a fresh trial, contrary to the earlier decision of the Supreme Court.
He urged the court to strike out the motion if the defence was no longer relying on the application pending before it.
After hearing the submissions of both parties, Justice Dada struck out the motion on notice and adjourned the case indefinitely.
Meanwhile, Ojo has also filed another motion before the Supreme Court on February 24, 2026, asking the apex court to set aside its earlier judgment delivered on May 9, 2025.
