The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos has adjourned till September 16, the hearing of the appeal filed by the Chairman of Ibeto Energy Development Company, Cletus Ibeto, challenging the jurisdiction of the State High Court to try him over an alleged N4.8 billion fraud.
Justice Muhammed Mustapha who presided over the appellate court adjourned the appeal to await the report of settlement talks between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the appellant.
The defendants, Ibeto and his companies, Ibeto Energy Development Company and Odoh Holdings Ltd, are facing a 10-count charge bordering on allegations of conspiracy, fraud, forgery and fraudulent use of documents.
Justice Ismail Ijelu had ordered Ibeto’s arrest after the businessman failed to appear in court on at least four occasions to take his plea over the alleged fraud charge against him despite repeated hearing notices served on him.
Dissatisfied with the order for his arrest and the refusal of the court to hear his preliminary objection, the defendant filed an appeal before the Appeal Court, formulating seven grounds for appeal.
He also wrote a petition against the judge alleging bias, a situation which led to the transfer of the case file to a new trial judge, Justice Oyindamola Ogala.
At the proceedings before the appeal court on Tuesday, Justice Mustapha sitting alongside other panel members, Justice Abdullahi Mahmud Bayero, and Justice Paul Bassi suspended the enforcement of the bench warrant issued on November 3, 2023, against the appellant by Justice Ijelu.
The justices suspended the warrant after Ibeto’s lawyer, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Wole Olanipekun, and the EFCC’s counsel, Adebisi Adeniyi, informed the court that the parties are in the process of settling the matter and that the appellant has so far refunded about N1.7 billion to the Commission.
