Alleged N4bn Fraud: Court adjourns ex-governor Obiano’s trial indefinitely

The Federal High Court, Abuja on Tuesday, adjourned the N4 billion fraud trial of former Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, indefinitely.

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This followed a request by the prosecuting agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), through its lawyer, S.O. Obila.

Trial judge Mohammed Umar, who sat over the matter for the first time on Tuesday, granted the request.

The case was recently reassigned to Mr Umar following the one-year suspension of the initial trial judge Inyang Ekwo by the National Judicial Council (NJC) in May.

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Mr Obila told Mr Umar on Tuesday that he had the instruction from the lead prosecution counsel to request the court to adjourn the matter sine die.

“In the light of this, I have the instruction of the lead prosecuting counsel in this case, Mr Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, to apply to the Chief Judge that since we had called nine witnesses before the previous judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, we should wait for him to return and conclude the matter,” he said.

He therefore prayed the court to adjourn the matter “sine die”.

Responding, Mr Obiano’s lawyer, Onyeachi Ikpeazu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said he was not opposing the application for adjournment since the prosecutor explained to him the difficulty his team had in getting the nine witnesses who had already testified.

Mr Umar subsequently adjourned the matter indefinitely.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Mr Obiano, who was governor of Anambra State from March 2014 to March 2022, was arraigned by the EFCC on 24 January 2024, on nine counts of money laundering.

The anti-graft agency alleged that he misappropriated over N4 billion from the state’s security vote account, diverting funds into private entities and converting some into foreign currency.

In April 2024, trial judge Ekwo refused to quash the charges, ruling that the court had jurisdiction and that a prima facie case had been established against him.

NAN reports that nine witnesses have so far testified in the trial, including a Bureau de Change (BDC) operator who claimed he received about N416 million over eight months from the state’s security vote account.

The case was stalled, in part, because of Mr Ekwo’s suspension by the NJC.

The NJC sanctioned Mr Ekwo for delivering a ruling in Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/184/2021 without hearing the parties, and for ignoring an application to set aside proceedings conducted in their absence.

Tuesday’s proceedings came after Mr Obiano was rumoured to have died in the United Kingdom. The death speculation was debunked by a former Commissioner for Information in Anambra State, Don Adinuba.

(NAN)