Senator Ifeanyi Ubah and his company, Capital Oil and Gas, will be charged to the Federal High Court in Lagos on October 18 for alleged indebtedness to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria.
The Federal Government accused Ubah and his company of misrepresenting the actual worth of some assets transferred to AMCON under a consent judgement obtained in 2012 when it filed eight counts against them in 2019. These accusations bordered on conspiracy and making false statements.
The Federal Government argued on Tuesday that the defendant had repeatedly neglected to show up in court to enter a plea, and Justice Nicholas Oweibo set the arraignment date.
The judge instructed Mrs. Ifeoma Esom, Ubah’s attorney, to issue a summons to Ubah and his company for their appearance in court on the new date.
Earlier, Mr. Tunde Lawal, the prosecutor, requested that the judge issue a warrant for Ubah’s arrest.
But the defence counsel, objected to Lawal’s prayer; telling the court that the matter was for a report of settlement/plea.
She added that her team had only just been informed that the settlement had failed and that it was on the basis of the settlement that Ubah was absent.
The prosecution countered that because it was a criminal case, no settlement could be announced.
He claimed that while parties could choose to settle out of court, they could not include that in the activities of a criminal court.
The judge refused to issue a bench warrant for Ubah’s arrest in his decision, but he did warn that if the defendant did not show up for his arraignment on the next adjourned date, he ran the chance of receiving a warrant for his arrest.