A federal high court in Lagos Statehas postponed the fraud case against Oba Otudeko, chairman of Honeywell Group.
Judge Chukwujekwu Aneke onThursdayadjourned the case toJune 11, to allow time for a possible out-of-court settlement or negotiations between the contesting parties.
Four defendants including Oba Otudeko, Olabisi Onasanya the former managing director of First Bank, Soji Akintayo, a former Honeywell board member; and Anchorage Leisure Limited, a company linked to the matter are set for trial.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had accused Oba Otudeko and others of fraudulenty obtaining over N31 billion from First Bank, allegedly through shell companies.
At a prior hearing on March 17, Wole Olanipekun, Counsel for Otudeko, informed the court that the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, had arranged a meeting with all parties involved in an effort to settle the matter amicably.
The court also maintained that Otudeko must enter a plea to the charges brought against him.
At the resumed hearing onThursday, Bode Olanipekun, representing the first defendant, told the court that settlement talks were ongoing and had not yet yielded a resolution.
Bilkisu Buhari-Bala, the prosecuting counsel, confirmed the development and requested an adjournment to allow time for either a final settlement report or to move forward with the arraignment.
Justice Aneke granted the request and postponed the case untilJune 11for further proceedings.
