An Ikeja High Court on Friday granted leave to a petrol subsidy scam suspect, Olarenwaju Olalusi, to travel to the U.K. for business.
Mr. Olalusi, a banker, is being prosecuted alongside an oil marketer, Abdullahi Alao, for an alleged N1.1 billion petrol subsidy fraud.
Also charged with them are Opeyemi Ajuyah, Majope Investment Ltd. and Axenergy Ltd.
During proceedings on Friday, Mr. Olalusi’s counsel, Zainab Kelani, in an application dated November 22, asked the court to grant his client permission to travel for a business trip.
Ms. Kelani said that Mr. Olalusi was scheduled to travel abroad between December 9 and16, to represent his employers, Sterling Bank Plc, at a business meeting.
She, therefore, asked the court to order the release of Mr. Olalusi’s international passport to enable him embark on the trip.
Rotimi Oyedepo, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), did not oppose the application.
In a short ruling, Justice Lateefat Okunnu ordered the Chief Registrar to release Mr. Olalusi’s international passport for the purpose of the journey.
Ms. Okunnu directed that Mr. Olalusi must return to Nigeria not later than December 21 and should return the international passport within 48 hours of returning to the country.
She adjourned the matter till December 11, for hearing of the two pending applications, filed by Mr. Alao’s counsel, Oluwaseun Awonuga.
One of the applications is seeking the court to set aside its October 21 ruling, which dismissed Mr. Alao’s previous application to quash the charges.
The other application wants the court to stay further proceedings on the trial, pending the determination of Mr. Alao’s appeal against the ruling at the Court of Appeal in Lagos.
No comments:
Post a Comment