Fred Ajudua shot back into the spotlight this week after Nigeria’s Supreme Court unanimously overturned a 2018 Court of Appeal ruling that had granted him bail, ordering his immediate return to prison to continue standing trial for an alleged $1.04 million fraud committed in 1993 . The apex court held that the appellate court erred in overruling Justice Mojisola Dada’s original decision to deny bail, noting that Ajudua’s protracted case—first filed in 2005—had already endured repeated delays spanning more than a decade .
Ajudua, a former Lagos socialite, is accused of conspiring to obtain money by false pretence, forgery, and uttering forged documents in connection with an advance‐fee scheme that allegedly defrauded a Palestinian businessman, Zad Abu Zalaf, of $1,043,000 in 1993 . His trial before Justice Dada of the Lagos State High Court was stalled multiple times: initially assigned to three different judges, his arraignment only took place on June 4, 2018, and his subsequent bail application was refused on health grounds despite claims of serious kidney issues . After the Court of Appeal granted him bail in September 2018, the EFCC appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that continued freedom would frustrate justice given Ajudua’s history of absconding .
Beyond the courtroom drama, the Supreme Court’s ruling has reignited public debate over Nigeria’s judicial backlog and the effectiveness of bail as a constitutional right versus a tool for delaying trials . Critics argue that high‐profile defendants exploit legal technicalities to avoid prosecution, while proponents of stricter pre‐trial conditions insist that unyielding remands safeguard the integrity of justice. Ajudua’s case now returns to Justice Dada’s docket, where observers will watch closely to see if the trial can finally proceed without further postponements .
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