ON Wednesday, a High Court sitting in Ilorin refused an application filed by a former member of the Kwara State House of Assembly,  Muhammed Adebayo, seeking to terminate a six-count charge, charged against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Adebayo was arraigned on August 1, 2019, by the Ilorin Zonal Office of the Commission in Kwara, before Justice Sikiru Oyinloye of the State High Court on count charges bordering on land fraud and obtaining money under false pretence, a statement by the EFCC read.

At the hearing on Wednesday, the defence counsel,  I. Abdul-Azeez applied that the matter should be terminated by the court due to the non-appearance of the prosecution counsel.

Justice Oyinloye, however, turned down the application, stating that the basis for the application was not enough to terminate the criminal charges. He said, hearing notice should be served on the prosecution counsel.

While adding that hearing notice should be served on the prosecution counsel, Justice Oyinloye adjourned the matter until December 11, 2019, for a continuation of trial.

In the statement, one of the charges against the defendant reads: “That you, Mohammed Adebayo, sometime in July 2013 in Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to  defraud obtained the sum of N950,000 from one Mary Omowunmi Kolade on the false pretence that three plots of land (situated at Malete, Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State) which  you sold to her belonged to you, a representation you knew to be false and punishable under Section 1 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other fraud-related offences.”

However, Adebayo pleaded not guilty to all the charges, setting the stage for his trial. Justice Oyinloye adjourned the matter until December 11, 2019, for a continuation of trial.