Court affirms arrest warrant against wanted oil marketer

A Lagos High Court, Ikeja, on Monday, dismissed an application by a serial fraud suspect, Mr. Oluwaseun Ogunbambo, seeking an order to discharge the warrant of arrest issued against him. Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo held in a ruling that the application was misconceived.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission which is prosecuting Ogunbambo for alleged N979.6m fuel subsidy fraud, Oluwaseun Ogunbambo, had alleged that the defendant had escaped to Canada. The EFCC is prosecuting Ogunbambo alongside Habila Theck and their company, Fargo Energy Ltd for the alleged subsidy fraud. The anti-graft agency had declared Ogunbambo wanted following the bench warrant issued on February 10, 2014 against him when he repeatedly failed to attend his trial. His co-accused, Theck, had always been present in court. The defence counsel, Mr. Raphael Oluyede, had filed an application, urging the court to restrain the EFCC from arresting the accused pending when his appeal against the issuance of the bench warrant would be determined. But the judge said in his ruling that there was no exceptional circumstances warranting the court to set aside the bench warrant. “This is a part-heard criminal proceedings in which trials have been adjourned several times because of the absence of the first defendant and to the detriment of the second defendant (Theck),” he said. He said the purpose of the warrant was to ensure that Ogunbambo was brought to court for speedy conclusion of the trial. After dismissing the application, the judge urged the EFCC to proceed with efforts to arrest Ogunbambo. The prosecuting counsel, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, the EFCC was keen to arrest the accused and bring him to court. Oyedepo said, “We will continue to search and hopefully we will get him before the next date of adjournment. “He is just like a fugitive because he is not staying in his house and is not on admission at any hospital as alleged by the defence,” Oyedepo said. Ogunbambo, who is also standing trial for separate bank and fuel subsidy fraud charges before Justice Onigbanjo and another judge of the Lagos High Court, had stopped attending court sessions. The matter was adjourned till June 25.