The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has taken former Skye Bank chairman Tunde Ayeni to court again on updated N15.6 billion fraud charges. This happened at the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Apo, Abuja.
The EFCC re-arraigned him on Thursday before Judge Jude Onwuegbuzie. This is the third time Mr Ayeni has entered a plea to these charges. The EFCC first arraigned him on 4 May, and the court kept him in prison while waiting for his bail application. He was re-arraigned on 22 June and again on Thursday.
In a statement from Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, it was said, “The defendant pleaded ‘not guilty’ when the charges were read to him.” The EFCC is charging him with 18 counts of criminal breach of trust, misappropriation, and diversion of up to N15.6 billion belonging to Skye Bank.
One charge states that while he was chairman of the board of the now-defunct Skye Bank Plc, he ordered the transfer of N3.11 billion from the bank’s suspense account to Misa Limited’s account with Zenith Bank in November 2014. Another charge claims he directed the transfer of about N5 billion from the bank’s suspense account to Greenwich Registrars’ account with Union Bank in December 2014.
The EFCC argues that these transactions were criminal breaches of trust and are punishable under the Penal Code. Mr Ayeni has pleaded not guilty to these charges.
Court Proceedings
After the arraignment, the EFCC’s lawyer, Abba Muhammed, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), told the court that they were ready to start the trial. He mentioned that their first witness was present in court. However, Mr Ayeni’s lawyer, Olalekan Ojo, who is also a SAN, disagreed with the immediate start of the trial. He claimed the prosecution had not filed the summary of the witness’s statement.
The prosecution replied that the summary of the witness’s statement was included with the second amended charge. The judge concluded that the prosecution had met all necessary requirements. Judge Onwuegbuzie then set 20, 22, and 23 July for the trial to continue.
Case Background
Thursday’s court session was the third time Mr Ayeni has pleaded to these charges. The repeated arraignments were due to the EFCC’s ongoing amendments of the charges.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the EFCC first arraigned Mr Ayeni on 4 May on 17 charges related to the diversion and misappropriation of N15.6 billion belonging to the defunct Skye Bank. He pleaded not guilty at that time.
Later, the EFCC amended the charges to 18 counts after providing more evidence. This led to Mr Ayeni’s re-arraignment on 22 June, where he again pleaded not guilty.
Mr Ayeni was the chairperson of Skye Bank’s board until July 2016. This was when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) removed the bank’s board and management during a regulatory intervention due to the bank’s poor financial state. Two years later, the CBN took away Skye Bank’s banking license and transferred its assets and liabilities to Polaris Bank, a new bank created by the CBN. Mr Ayeni did not continue with Polaris Bank after this.
The EFCC’s case comes from its investigation into transactions that supposedly took place while Mr Ayeni was in charge of the bank’s board. The commission claims that billions of naira were taken from the bank’s suspense account to companies linked to the defendants, breaking the bank’s rules and regulations.
Mr Ayeni has denied all the allegations and continues to plead not guilty to the charges.
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