A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Joseph B. Daudu (SAN), has urged a Lagos State High Court in Ikeja to reject an attempt by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), to abort a multi-million dollar criminal prosecution of Trafigura Beheer BV and Trafigura PTE Limited.

Daudu, counsel to Nadabo Energy Limited, the nominal complainant in the matter, urged the trial judge, Justice Mojisola Dada, to set aside the Notice of
Discontinuance because it was unconstitutional, as the case was brought to court under Lagos State law, not federal law.

CriminalThe lawyer argued that the Notice of Discontinuance brought by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation through the Office of the Director of

Public Prosecution of the Federation is an affront to the constitutional powers of the Attorney General of Lagos.

Other defendants in the case are Yusuf Kwande, Mettle Energy and Gas, Rembrandt Limited, Osahon Asemota, and Jil Engineering and Oil Services Limited.

The three-count charge, marked as ID/7980c/2018, was brought under the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State, Cap. C17, 2003.

The Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU) accused the defendants of stealing Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) worth about $8,442,806.09 from Nadabo Energy Limited.
They pleaded not guilty to the charge.

During the trial, the prosecution team, led by Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), called 17 witnesses, and the trial court dismissed the defence’s no-case submission and called on them to enter their defence.

Instead of doing so, Trafigura BV and Trafigura PTE Limited approached the AGF through a petition urging him to terminate the case.

The judge had since discharged the defendants after the prosecution moved for a Notice of Discontinuance.

But Daudu, in the motion on notice, asked the court to strike out or dismiss the notice of takeover issued by the Attorney General through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation for being ultra vires, null and void, same having violated Section 211 (1) of the 1999 Constitution.

He also prayed the court to set aside or strike out the notice of takeover as being shrouded in incompetence and fundamental defect, which was issued by
the AGF through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation on February 29, 2024, to take over the prosecution of the case.

The first defence counsel, Chief Bode Olanipekun (SAN), opened his defence by filing an application seeking to dismiss the case, arguing that the defendants had already been tried in a similar case before Justice Sodeton Ogunsanya at the Lagos High Court in Ikeja.

In her ruling, Justice Dada held that the application lacked merit as there was no nexus between it and the subject matter before the trial court.
She then ordered the trial to continue.