By Peter Salami
An Abuja High Court on Monday granted bail to former Chairman of Skye Bank Plc, Tunde Ayeni, in an ongoing N15.6 billion fraud trial, with stringent conditions.
Ayeni is facing a 17-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over alleged fraud involving N15.6 billion. He pleaded not guilty when the charges were read before the court.
Justice Jude Onwuzuruike granted the defendant bail in the sum of N200 million with two sureties in like sum after hearing submissions from defence counsel, Dele Adesina, SAN.
While ruling that bail was necessary to secure the defendant’s attendance at trial, the judge imposed conditions many legal observers described as quite steep.
The court ordered that the two sureties must be federal civil servants who would provide national identity cards, letters of employment, and proof of ownership of properties worth at least N500 million.
In addition, one of the sureties must undertake to provide a bank guarantee of N15 billion.
While the conditions raised questions over whether any serving civil servant would publicly present assets valued at half a billion naira in a high-profile EFCC prosecution, or possess the financial standing required to guarantee N15 billion.
Justice Onwuzuruike, however, dismissed the prosecution’s argument that Ayeni could interfere with the trial, describing the claim as speculative and insufficient to deny bail.
The court also reiterated the constitutional principle that every accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Pending the perfection of the bail conditions, correctional authorities were directed to allow Ayeni adequate access to his legal team.
At an earlier hearing, Adesina had argued that Ayeni had already secured administrative bail from the EFCC before the court ordered his remand.
The case revives allegations that previously led to Ayeni’s prosecution alongside former bank executive Timothy Oguntayo in 2019 over similar claims.
In the earlier matter, Ayeni’s lead counsel, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, argued that the disputed transactions were commercial banking arrangements rather than criminal diversion of funds.
Olanipekun had maintained that the transactions arose from business dealings that later went sour and noted that the arrangements had received approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
That case was eventually resolved through an out-of-court settlement adopted by the court after regulatory approval by the apex bank.