APPEAL COURT ADJOURNS IBETO’S ALLEGED N4.83BN FRAUD HEARING TILL SEPT. 16
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The hearing of the appeal filed by Cletus Ibeto, the chairman of Ibeto Energy Development Company, challenging the State High Court’s competence to try him for an alleged N4.8 billion fraud, has been postponed to September 16 by the Court of Appeal located in Lagos.
The appeal was postponed until after the report of the settlement negotiations between the appellant and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was received by the appellate court’s judge, Muhammad Mustapha.
Before the Lagos High Court in Ikeja, the EFCC had filed a 10-count charge against Ibeto and his companies, Ibeto Energy Development Company and Odoh Holdings Ltd., for conspiracy, fraud, forgery, and fraudulent use of documents.
Ibeto’s detention was ordered by Justice Ismail Ijelu after the businessman ignored many hearing notifications sent to him and failed to show up in court at least four times to enter a plea to the fraud accusation against him.
Disgruntled with the arrest order and the court’s dismissal of his preliminary objection, the defendant appealed to the Appeal Court, stating seven reasons for the appeal.
Additionally, he filed a petition accusing the judge of bias, which resulted in the case file being transferred to Justice Oyindamola Ogala, a new trial judge.
During the Tuesday appeal court proceedings, Justice Mustapha, sitting with Justices Abdullahi Mahmud Bayero and Paul Bassi, postponed the enforcement of the bench warrant against the appellant that Justice Ijelu had issued on November 3, 2023.
After Ibeto’s attorney, Chief Wole Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and the EFCC’s attorney, Adebisi Adeniyi, told the court that the parties were in the process of reaching a settlement and that the appellant had so far reimbursed the Commission for roughly N1.7 billion, the justices suspended the warrant.
Adeniyi specifically told the court that the appellant had been paying according to the settlement agreement that the parties had agreed upon and that it might not be suitable to pursue the appeal further as it had turned into a pointless academic exercise.
Additionally, he mentioned that the prosecution had submitted an affidavit outlining the settlement and all previous events related to the case. He added that the appellant had paid an extra N200 million between the last postponed date and now.
Chief Olanipekun responded, confirming that the parties are resolving the dispute in accordance with the ruling of the Rivers State High Court.
But since the Appeal Court is now in charge of the case, he asked the judge to revoke the bench warrant against his client.
Justice Mustapha issued a brief ruling suspending the enforcement of the order, stating that since the appellant had begun to settle the case out of court, the arrest warrant could not remain a cloud over his head.
He held, “The bench warrant is now suspended and we encourage parties to continue with the negotiations until the next adjourned date of September 16.”
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