Court Adjourns Fred Ajudua’s $1.043million Fraud Trial Indefinitely Amid Fresh Legal Disputes
Court Adjourns Fred Ajudua’s $1.043million Fraud Trial Indefinitely Amid Fresh Legal Disputes
Ajudua is accused of defrauding a Palestinian businessman, Zad Abu Zalaf, of $1,043,000 under false pretences, according to Dele Oyewale, EFCC Head, Media and Publicity in a statement on Tuesday.
Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, has adjourned indefinitely the long-running fraud trial of alleged internet scam kingpin Fred Ajudua over an alleged $1,043,000 fraud.
Ajudua is accused of defrauding a Palestinian businessman, Zad Abu Zalaf, of $1,043,000 under false pretences, according to Dele Oyewale, EFCC Head, Media and Publicity in a statement on Tuesday.
The case, which has dragged on for more than two decades, was first instituted in 2005 before Justice M.O. Obadina of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja.
Proceedings suffered repeated delays largely due to legal applications and technical objections raised by the defence, which stalled the arraignment of the defendant for years.
The matter was later reassigned to Justice J.E. Oyefeso and subsequently to Justice Dada, before whom Ajudua was eventually arraigned on June 4, 2018.
Following his arraignment, Justice Dada initially denied the defendant bail.
However, Ajudua appealed the decision, and the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal granted him bail on September 10, 2018.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), dissatisfied with the appellate court’s ruling, subsequently approached the Supreme Court of Nigeria to challenge the decision.
The anti-graft agency also filed a separate appeal, marked SC/912C/2018, contesting the Court of Appeal’s directive that the case be transferred from Justice Dada to another judge to begin afresh.
The apex court later resolved both issues in favour of the prosecution and ordered that the case be returned to the Chief Judge of Lagos State for reassignment to Justice Dada for continuation and speedy determination.
However, fresh legal complications surfaced during Monday’s proceedings.
Defence counsel, Olalekan Ojo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, informed the court that the defendant had filed a motion on notice, citing a new judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal of Nigeria on January 30, 2026.
According to Ojo, the appellate court allowed an appeal against an earlier ruling of the Lagos State High Court which had refused bail to the defendant.
He told the court that a Certified True Copy of the judgment had been forwarded and attached to the motion filed on March 5, 2026.
The senior lawyer argued that the appellate court not only granted bail but also ordered that the substantive suit be remitted to another court to commence afresh.
Ojo further relied on the precedent in Ajudua v. FRN (2019), which he said gave a similar interpretation regarding the transfer of the case for a fresh trial.
He also disclosed that the complainant in the matter had already appealed the decision.
“Until that judgment is set aside, the court must act on it. We have written a letter to the Chief Judge of Lagos State to reassign the case to another judge of the High Court of Lagos State,” Ojo said.
He argued that Justice Dada no longer had jurisdiction to continue hearing the case and could only direct that the case file be transmitted to the Chief Judge for reassignment.
Ojo added that he was no longer relying on the motion filed on March 5 but on the January 30 judgment of the Court of Appeal.
Responding, prosecuting counsel S.K. Atteh said he only received the defence application late on Friday.
He argued that although the Court of Appeal granted bail to the defendant, the judgment did not contain any order directing that the case be transferred to another court.
Atteh further informed the court that the defence had already filed another motion before the Court of Appeal seeking clarification or interpretation of the judgment regarding the alleged transfer of the case to another judge to begin afresh — an action he said contradicted an earlier decision of the Supreme Court on the same issue.
The prosecutor therefore urged the court to strike out the motion if the defence was no longer relying on the application already pending before the court.
After listening to both parties, Justice Dada struck out the motion on notice and adjourned the case sine die—effectively putting the trial on hold indefinitely.
Meanwhile, Ojo has also filed another motion at the Supreme Court on February 24, 2026, seeking to set aside its earlier judgment delivered on May 9, 2025, in the long-running case.
The development marks yet another twist in the prolonged prosecution of Ajudua, a case that has been repeatedly stalled by legal battles since it began more than 20 years ago.
