Justice Alexander Owoeye of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday fixed February 14, 2025, for the possible arraignment of Ezekiel Thankgod, the former manager of a Nigerian gospel singer, Mercy Chinwo, over alleged $345,000 fraud.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on January 16, 2025, had sought Ezekiel’s arrest over allegations of financial mismanagement, including diverting royalties from Chinwo’s digital platforms and events.
According to the EFCC counsel, Bilikisu Buhari, Ezekiel allegedly misappropriated the funds by failing to remit Chinwo’s share of the earnings.
However, when the case came up on Friday, Ezekiel’s counsel, Monday Ubani, SAN, argued that the arrest warrant was unjustified.
He claimed that the matter was a contractual dispute, not a criminal one, and informed the court that Ezekiel had filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit against the EFCC before another court to stop his arrest.
Ubani also told the court that his client had filed a preliminary objection to the charge against him and urged the court to vacate the earlier arrest warrant issued against him.y the EFCC.
Responding, the EFCC counsel told the court that the commission had been unable to arrest the defendant since the court had ordered his arrest.
She requested the court’s permission to serve the charge on Ezekiel’s lawyer in the open court and further noted that there might be no need for the arrest warrant since Ubani has accepted the charge on behalf of his client.
Ubani, who received the charges on behalf of his client, however, prayed the court for a date for the court to hear the preliminary objection against the fraud allegation charge.
After listening to the arguments of both counsels, Justice Owoeye said, “In the light of the defendant’s lawyer having accepted service of the charges and the preliminary objection against the charge, the court would adjourn to decide on the pending application.”
following the court proceedings, the EFCC’s lawyer, Mrs Bilikisu Buhari, applied to withdraw the arrest warrant.
Buhari explained that since the charges had already been served on Thankgod’s lawyer, Monday Ubani, SAN, in open court, there was no longer any need for the warrant.
In response, the judge approved the withdrawal of the arrest warrant.
Consequently, the judge adjourned the case to February 14, 2025, for possible arraignment and hearing of pending applications before the court.
