The special offences court in Lagos has sentenced Emmanuel Nwude, a former director of the Union Bank of Nigeria, along with two lawyers, to one year in prison each for forgery and unlawfully dealing in forfeited property.
The lawyers are Emmanuel Ilechukwu and Rowland Kalu.
Mojisola Dada, the trial judge, delivered the conviction on Wednesday after a lengthy trial, according to a statement released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
THE CASE
In 2005, Nwude was sentenced to 25 years in prison for persuading Nelson Sakaguchi, then director of Banco Noroeste, a Brazilian bank, to purchase a non-existent airport for $242 million.
On March 2, 2018, Nwude, Ilechukwu and Kalu were arraigned on an amended 15-count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery, uttering false documents, dealing in forfeited property, attempting to obstruct justice and fabricating evidence.
According to the EFCC, between 2011 and 2012, the three men attempted to carry out business transactions involving a property at Plot Y, Mobolaji Johnson Street in Oregun, Ikeja, without approval from the authorities.
Prosecutors said they were aware that the property had already been forfeited to victims of crime as restitution following a judgement delivered on November 18, 2005, in a case involving Nwude and others.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
During the proceedings, the prosecution, led by Nnaemeka Omewa, called five witnesses and presented several documents which the court admitted as evidence.
After the prosecution closed its case on March 19, 2019, Nwude filed a no-case submission, arguing that the prosecution had not established a case against them.
However, in a ruling on September 19, 2019, the judge dismissed the application and directed the defendants to begin their defence.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Nwude approached the appeal court, but the court dismissed the appeal and ordered him to return to the trial court to continue his defence.
On February 22, 2021, Nwude opened his defence, testified on his own behalf and called three witnesses before closing his case.
His co-defendants, Ilechukwu and Kalu, also testified before the court and concluded their defence on February 27, 2025.
The court subsequently directed the parties to file their final written addresses and initially adjourned the case to June 25, 2025.
The defendants submitted their final addresses at different times, with the third defendant filing his response to the prosecution on June 20, 2025.
When the case resumed on June 25, 2025, the court adjourned proceedings to September 25, 2025.
Later, Babajide Martins, Lagos director of the directorate of public prosecutions (DPP), appeared before the court and informed the judge that he had been instructed to take over the case following a petition submitted to his office by the second defendant, Ilechukwu.
The judge noted that the matter had already reached the stage of adopting final written addresses and questioned why the DPP intended to assume control of proceedings that were nearly concluded.
Martins could not provide a clear explanation during the hearing.
The court subsequently adjourned the matter to November 5, 2025, to allow the first defendant’s counsel to file a reply on points of law to the prosecution’s final address before the adoption stage.
Delivering judgement, Dada found the defendants guilty on counts one, two, three, four, five, six, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15.
The judge, however, acquitted them on counts seven and eight, which bordered on making false statements to a public officer.
The court thereafter convicted and sentenced each of the defendants to one year imprisonment.