Ex-Skye Bank chairman Tunde Ayeni pleads not guilty to N15.39bn fraud as trial date is set

Former Skye Bank chairman Tunde Ayeni has been re-arraigned before the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, over an alleged N15.39 billion fraud. He pleaded not guilty to all 18 counts, and the court has fixed January 19, 2027 for the start of trial.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) disclosed the development in a statement on Wednesday, according to Peoples Gazette and Sahara Reporters. Ayeni appeared before Justice H. Mu'azu on an existing 18-count charge covering criminal breach of trust, misappropriation and diversion of depositors' funds. The commission puts the total at N15,391,093,665.

The re-arraignment followed the transfer of the case from Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the FCT High Court in Apo, before whom Ayeni had earlier been arraigned.

The EFCC alleges that Ayeni committed the offences while he was chairman of the board of the defunct Skye Bank Plc, which is now Polaris Bank Limited. One of the charges, count eight, accuses him of directing the transfer of about N3.11 billion on or about November 20, 2014 to the account of Misa Limited at Zenith Bank. The charge sheet says he "dishonestly misappropriated" the sum, in breach of his obligations to the bank.

Count nine alleges that on or about December 2, 2014 he directed another transfer of more than N5 billion to the account of Greenwich Registrar at Union Bank. According to the commission, both transactions drew on depositors' funds held in the bank's suspense account. The charge describes the alleged transaction as criminal breach of trust under Section 311 of the Penal Code, punishable under Section 312.

After the not-guilty plea, prosecution counsel Abba Muhammed asked the court for a trial date. Defence counsel E. Inegedu urged the judge to leave in place the bail conditions granted to Ayeni in May this year. He told the court that his client had attended every sitting and had not breached any term of the bail, including the requirement to submit his international passport and provide sureties.

Both sides agreed that the defendant had so far attended court without any reported breach. The judge then adjourned the case until January 19, 2027 for the commencement of trial.

Ayeni is a defendant, not a convict. The allegations are the EFCC's, and it will have to prove them in court, where the defence will also be heard. The case is one of several long-running prosecutions linked to the collapse and rescue of banks that were later absorbed or renamed after regulatory intervention, and the January date means it will run into the new year.