Counsel to the Chairman of the Honeywell Group, Oba Otudeko, charged with N12.3 billion fraud, on Monday, appeared before a Federal High Court in Lagos to protest the charge.
Mr. Bode Olanipekun (SAN) told the court that he was protesting because the charge had not been served on Otudeko and two others charged along with him.
Olanipekun is the counsel to the three defendants.
The 13-count charge was preferred by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Otudeko, a former Managing Director of First Bank PLC., Olabisi Onasanya; and a former board member of Honeywell, Soji Akintayo.
They were charged alongside a firm, Anchorage Leisure Ltd.
EFCC alleged that the defendants obtained the sum under false pretence.
Last Thursday, the EFCC filed charges against Otudeko and the three others at the federal high court in Lagos for allegedly obtaining a N30 billion loan under false pretences.
The anti-graft agency had said the defendants would be arraigned on Monday, January 20, 2025.
The three other defendants are Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, a former group managing director of FBN; Soji Akintayo, an ex-board member of Honeywell Flour Mills PLC; and Anchorage Limited, a company linked to Otudeko.
In the charge sheet, the EFCC accused Otudeko and the other defendants of obtaining tranches of loans—N12.3 billion, N5.2 billion, N6.2 billion, N6.1 billion, and N1.5 billion—from First Bank under the pretence that the funds were obtained by some firms.
The anti-graft agency said the credit facilities were obtained between 2013 and 2014.
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