Fred Ajudua’s $1m fraud trial stalled as court adjourns case indefinitely over reassignment dispute

The long-running fraud trial of Lagos socialite Fred Ajudua suffered another setback on Monday after a special offences court sitting in Ikeja adjourned the case indefinitely following a dispute over which judge should preside over the matter.

Justice Mojisola Dada took the decision after hearing arguments from both the defence and prosecution concerning the implications of a recent ruling by the Court of Appeal of Nigeria.

Ajudua is facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over allegations that he defrauded a Palestinian businessman, Zad Abu Zalaf, of $1,043,000 in a deal that dates back to 2005.

The case, which has dragged on for two decades, has been moved between several judges at the Lagos State High Court. It was initially assigned to Justice Morenike Obadina but arraignment did not take place before it was reassigned to Justice Josephine Oyefeso and later to Justice Dada.

Ajudua was eventually arraigned on June 4, 2018.

At the start of the trial, Justice Dada refused the defendant’s bail application, citing the prolonged delay that had characterised the case. The defendant subsequently approached the Court of Appeal in Lagos, which granted him bail on September 10, 2018.

However, the EFCC challenged that ruling at the Supreme Court of Nigeria. In May 2025, the apex court revoked the bail granted by the appellate court and ordered the reinstatement of the trial court’s decision denying bail.

The Supreme Court also directed the Chief Judge of Lagos State to reassign the case to Justice Dada for continuation of the trial.

Following the reassignment, Ajudua filed a fresh bail application, which was rejected by the court in November 2025. Dissatisfied with the ruling, the defendant again approached the appellate court.

In January 2026, the Court of Appeal sitting in Yola overturned the decision of the Lagos court and granted bail to Ajudua, ruling that the trial court had misapplied the earlier Supreme Court judgment in refusing the fresh application.

The appellate court held that the apex court had not expressly barred the defendant from filing another bail request.

The EFCC has since approached the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the appellate court’s decision.

During Monday’s proceedings, Ajudua’s counsel, Olalekan Ojo, informed the court that the defence had filed a motion on notice based on the Court of Appeal judgment delivered on January 30, 2026.

Ojo said the certified true copy of the judgment had been submitted to the court and attached to the defence motion filed on March 5, 2026.

According to him, the appellate court granted bail to the defendant and directed that the substantive case be remitted to another court to begin afresh.

He argued that the Lagos court no longer had jurisdiction to continue with the trial and could only forward the case file to the Chief Judge of Lagos State for reassignment to another judge.

“Until that judgment is set aside, the court must act on it,” Ojo told the court.

He added that the defence had already written to the Chief Judge requesting that the case be reassigned to another judge in line with the appellate court’s ruling.

Responding, the prosecution counsel, S.K. Atteh, said the EFCC only received the defence application late on Friday.

Atteh argued that the Court of Appeal ruling merely granted bail to the defendant and did not order that the case be transferred to another judge.

The prosecutor also informed the court that the defence had separately filed a motion at the Court of Appeal seeking clarification on whether the case should indeed be reassigned, particularly in light of the earlier directive issued by the Supreme Court.

Following the submissions, Justice Dada adjourned the matter indefinitely pending further clarification on the jurisdictional issues raised.