Alleged $1.043 Fraud: EFCC Seeks Supreme Court’s Order to Revoke Ajudua’s Bail

Ajudua

By JUMOKE SANNI

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has approached the Supreme Court of Nigeria seeking an order to revoke the bail granted to Lagos socialite, Fred Chijindu Ajudua, by the Court of Appeal of Nigeria sitting in Lagos.

In a notice of appeal dated February 20, 2026 and filed at the apex court in Abuja, the anti-graft agency is challenging the entire ruling of the appellate court delivered on January 30, 2026, which admitted Ajudua to bail.

The Commission, through its counsel S.K. Atteh argues that the Court of Appeal erred in law when it dismissed the prosecution’s preliminary objection and proceeded to grant bail to the defendant.

According to the EFCC, the appellate court failed to properly interpret the earlier judgment of the Supreme Court delivered on May 9, 2025 in related appeals involving Ajudua. The Commission argued that the apex court had effectively foreclosed further consideration of bail when it ordered that the respondent remain in custody pending the speedy trial of the charge.

The EFCC particularly faulted the Court of Appeal for allegedly holding that the Supreme Court did not order Ajudua’s continued detention, describing the lower court’s position as contrary to the doctrine of judicial hierarchy and the finality of Supreme Court’s decisions.

Central to the dispute is the interpretation of portions of the Supreme Court judgment where the apex court discussed the relationship between jurisdiction and bail.

The EFCC maintained that the Court of Appeal failed to address passages in the apex court’s decision which, in its view, meant that the issue of bail had been conclusively determined and could not be revisited by any lower court.