CONSEQUENT upon a request from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Alhaji Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, has forwarded an extradition request to the British Home Secretary, Home Office, United Kingdom (UK), to arrest and extradite Mr Erastus Akingbola, former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank, to Nigeria to face trial for charges relating to fraud allegedly committed by him at the bank.
Akingbola was charged with offences of financial misappropriation, money laundering, financial malpractices, corrupt practices and other related offences at the Federal High Court, Lagos.
On August 14, 2009, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sacked Akingbola, along with four other bank chiefs, on account of what the CBN called excessive high level of non-performing loans in the five banks. Ever since the sack, he is reported to have sought refuse in London.
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, on Thursday, December 31, 2009, had granted a Mareva injunction, freezing local and international assets of Akingbola, amounting to N346,185,841,243.75 and £1,085,515.00.
The assets on which the order was granted include, but are not limited to: shares held in listed companies in Nigeria, including, Intercontinental Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc, among others; shares held in other companies in Nigeria, including but not limited to Tropics Securities Limited; Tropics Property Limited; Tropics Holdings Limited; Summit Finance Company Limited; Tropics Finance & Investments Company Limited; Yankuri Nigeria Limited; Regal Investment Nigeria Limited and Bankinson Nigeria Limited.
The U.S. legal definitions website, explained that a Mareva injunction was a type of court order “of interlocutory relief designed to freeze the assets of a defendant, in appropriate circumstances, pending the determination of a plaintiff’s claim. Mareva injunction is often used to prevent a defendant from transferring assets out of thecourt’s jurisdiction as soon as a claim is served, in order to frustrate enforcement of any ensuing judgment”.
This was attributed to poor corporate governance practices, lax credit administration processes and the absence or non-adherence to the bank’s credit risk management practices and having acted in a manner detrimental to the interest of their depositors and creditors.
In the letter of request, the AGF explained that: “The request for the extradition is made pursuant to the Extradition Act (Designation of Part 2 Territories) Order 2003 (SI2003 No.3334) of the United Kingdom.”
The purpose of the request, the AGF explained, was for the extradition to Nigeria of Mr Akingbola for him to stand trial for the offences for which he had been charged.
The request was supported with an affidavit deposed to by Ibeakaku Nkechi Rita, a deputy Superintendent of the EFCC, and a certification signed by Ahmed T. Almakura, Senior State Counsel for the Federal Ministry of Justice.
The AGF prayed the Home Secretary to grant the request in the interest of justice.
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