A judge of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has threatened to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of a former president of the NNPC Staff Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society, Olalekan Ogunbayo, over his repeated failure to appear for arraignment in an alleged 582 million naira fraud case.
Justice Lesley Wike gave the warning on Monday after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, complained that Ogunbayo had failed to appear for the third time.
EFCC counsel, R. U. Adagba, told the court that only the second defendant, Abolade Nurudeen, was present.
Adagba said Ogunbayo, who had been granted administrative bail, failed to honour the terms of the bail and that efforts to serve him with the charge had been unsuccessful. He said the defendant’s absence had stalled the arraignment on two previous occasions.
He urged the court to issue a bench warrant for his arrest and production in court, citing Sections 35, 113 and 114 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
Defence counsel, Innocent Adoo, opposed the application, arguing that a defendant must be properly served with the charge and given adequate time to prepare his defence. He said the requirement for service could not be waived.
Adoo said Ogunbayo was still on administrative bail and was unaware of the date fixed for arraignment. He said the defendant was in Warri and could not secure a flight to Abuja for Monday’s proceedings.
The charges relate to the sale of the cooperative society’s property at Plot 50, Karsana North, Abuja.
The prosecution alleged that Ogunbayo, as president of the society, conspired with Nurudeen, who operates under the name Abolade Nurudeen & Co., in January 2024 to misappropriate proceeds from the transaction.
In one of the counts, the defendants were accused of dishonestly misappropriating 582 million naira realised from the property sale.
The EFCC also alleged that Ogunbayo received 100 million naira, 10 million naira and 50 million naira through different bank accounts in connection with the transaction.
It further alleged that Nurudeen received 180 million naira into an account belonging to his firm after representing that the property had been sold for 1 billion naira.
Both defendants were also accused of involvement in an alleged 160 million naira corrupt transaction.
The case has renewed concerns over corporate governance in cooperative societies, particularly within the oil and gas sector where several societies have collapsed following allegations of fraud and mismanagement.
Legal and cooperative analysts warn that officers of cooperative societies who engage in misappropriation of funds, abuse of office, breach of fiduciary duties and other forms of financial impropriety risk criminal liability, including prosecution for criminal breach of trust, conspiracy and corruption.
They advise that cooperative societies, especially those in the oil and gas industry managing large members’ funds and assets, must strengthen internal controls, ensure transparent accounting for property sales, investments, comply with the Cooperative Societies Act and anti-corruption laws to avoid collapse and personal criminal liability for its officers.
The allegations are yet to be determined by the court and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.