By: Bayero Ade
The Federal High Court in Lagos has scheduled the arraignment of Gbolahan Obanikoro, son of Senator Musliu Obanikoro, for February 27, 2025, over allegations of a N1.356 billion fraud.
According Peoples Gazette, Obanikoro, alongside four other defendants, is facing charges including conspiracy, fraud, obtaining money by false pretenses, and making false statements. The co-defendants are Adejare Adegbenro, Balmoral International Limited, M.O.B. Integrated Limited, and DDSS International Company Limited.
The arraignment date was set after the defendants failed to appear in court for a previously scheduled hearing. Prosecuting attorney Momoh Bello informed the court that notices had been sent to all the accused, though the prosecution did not request a bench warrant for their absence.
Joshua Abel, counsel for M.O.B. Integrated Limited, objected to the issuance of a bench warrant, explaining that the defendants had received late notice and that some company directors were out of the country at the time.
Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa acknowledged the delay in the service of notices and instructed that personal service be made to the first and second defendants.
The Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police Force has accused Obanikoro and the other defendants of conspiring to defraud Access Bank (formerly Diamond Bank) of N1.36 billion between May and September 2013. The charges also include allegations of misappropriating the funds for personal use while knowing the money was obtained through unlawful means.
The offenses allegedly violate sections of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-Related Offenses Act (2006) and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act (2022).
The case has been adjourned to February 27, 2025, for the formal arraignment of all the accused.
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