TheCable

The Ikeja special offences court has ordered Kayode Odukoya, managing director of First Nation Airways Limited, to open his defence in the N1.7 billion fraud case instituted against him.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Odukoya alongside First Nation Airways Limited and Bellview Airlines Limited on a seven-count charge. 

The charges include forgery, use of false document, perjury, stealing and obtaining credit by fraud contrary to sections 85(1), 86(1), 278(1)&(b), 285(1), 313(1)(a) &(b), 361(1)(a)& (b), 363 (1) and 364(1) of the criminal law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2011.

Odukoya pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.

Last year, the prosecution had closed its case — after calling five witnesses and tendering several documents to prove its case.

However, instead of opening defence, the defendant, through his counsel, Edoka Onyeke, filed a no-case submission.

While Onyeke had urged the court to “dismiss the seven-count charge and to discharge the defendant,” A. Ozioko, the prosecuting counsel, argued that there was “legally admissible evidence against the defendant to warrant him to enter his defence and to explain his role in the charge.”

Delivering the ruling, Mojisola Dada, presiding judge, dismissed the no-case submission and ordered the defendant to open his case on January 17 and 18, 2022.