Court Dismisses Case Against Oba Otudeko After EFCC Withdrew Charges

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday dismissed the ₦12.3 billion case brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Honeywell Group Chairman, Oba Otudeko, and three others.

The EFCC had filed a 13-count charge accusing Otudeko, former First Bank MD Olabisi Onasanya, ex-Honeywell board member Soji Akintayo, and Anchorage Leisure Limited of fraudulently securing ₦12.3 billion in loans from First Bank by allegedly misrepresenting the loans as credit requests from V-TECH Dynamic Links Ltd. and Stallion Nigeria Ltd.

However, the EFCC dropped the case after confirming that Oba Otudeko and First Bank had settled the matter out of court.

EFCC lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), told the court that First Bank, the main complainant, had reached a peaceful resolution with Otudeko and confirmed the settlement in writing.

He added that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) was informed of the agreement, and the money involved had been fully paid back.

“In the interest of justice and to prevent abuse of the court process, the Attorney General has decided to discontinue the prosecution,” Oyedepo said.

He said the defence had also written to the AGF seeking a resolution, which led to a meeting involving all parties.

According to him, First Bank withdrew its complaint in a letter dated July 16, 2025, and followed up with another letter on July 21, asking that the charges be dropped since the issue had been settled.

“Upon thorough review of the allegations, and considering that the depositor funds involved in the charge have been fully recovered and returned to First Bank’s treasury, the AGF decided—under Section 180 of the ACJA—to withdraw the charge,” Oyedepo submitted.

All lawyers representing the other defendants also confirmed that the matter had been resolved.

Following this, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke struck out the case, bringing the legal battle to an end.

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