The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday fixed 15 July for the arraignment of Azania Omo-Agege, the interim president of the Nigeria Boxing Federation (NBF), over alleged fraud involving N40 million.
Judge Mohammed Umar fixed the date after the prosecution lawyer, Maryam Kalejaiye, sought an adjournment to allow the police investigating team to produce the defendants in court.
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Neither Mr Omo-Agege nor his lawyer was in court when the matter was called.
Ms Kalejaiye informed the court that although the matter was scheduled for the defendants, Mr Omo-Agege and Sidali Efemana, to enter their pleas, the investigating team had yet to provide an update on the suspects’ availability.
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She consequently asked for an adjournment to enable the prosecution to take necessary steps in the matter.
The judge subsequently adjourned the proceedings until 15 July for the defendants to enter their pleas.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the arraignment was initially scheduled for 29 September 2025 but could not proceed due to the defendants’ absence from court.
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The arraignment was also stalled earlier before another judge, Inyang Ekwo, on 20 March 2025, after the defendants failed to appear in court.
However, Mr Omo-Agege’s lawyer, J.E.O. Abugu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), was present in court on that occasion.
The police charged Messrs Omo-Agege and Efemana, both said to be staff members of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, with alleged offences bordering on criminal breach of trust, obtaining money under false pretences, and issuing a dud cheque.
In the five-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/75/2025, another suspect, Daniel Omughelli, was listed as being at large.
According to the charge filed on 25 February 2025, the defendants allegedly conspired to commit the offences sometime in 2022.
NAN did not provide further details of the allegations.
Background
Mr Omo-Agege has been at the centre of leadership disputes within the Nigerian Boxing Federation in recent years.
He emerged as interim president of the federation in November 2023 following the suspension of former NBF president Kenneth Minimah by the International Boxing Association (IBA) over governance-related disputes within Nigerian boxing.
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Before then, Mr Omo-Agege had served as vice president of the federation and also held leadership roles within the African Boxing Confederation (AFBC), where he briefly acted as interim president in 2023 following a leadership crisis in the continental body.
His emergence as NBF interim president, however, deepened divisions within the federation.
In November 2023, the NBF board announced his indefinite suspension over allegations that he impersonated the federation’s president and issued unauthorised correspondence to the IBA using NBF letterheads without approval.
The dispute later escalated into multiple legal and administrative battles involving the NBF, the Nigeria Olympic Committee, the National Sports Commission and international boxing bodies over Nigeria’s affiliation with either the IBA or the rival World Boxing body.
Despite the controversies, the National Sports Commission reinstated Mr Omo-Agege as interim president of the federation in September 2025, citing efforts to stabilise the crisis-ridden boxing body.
NAN
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