Court Orders Arrest of Access Bank MD, Two Others For Disobeying ICPC Orders

A High Court in Abuja on Thursday issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe, and two others.

The order issued by Justice Othman Musa of Court 18 of the FCT was to compel the defendants to appear in court to answer to charges of willful disobedience to a lawful order of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

Other defendants in the suit filed by the ICPC are Neka Adogu, a staff of Access Bank, and Access Bank.

The defendants who were to be arraigned on a four-count charge of refusal to obey a lawful order of the ICPC among others were however absent in court when the matter was called up, and neither were any legal representation for them in court.

Counsel to ICPC, Osuebeni Akposinimingha, who told the court that it was the duty of the prosecution to produce the defendants in court for their arraignment, said the prosecution however is having some constraints in doing so.

He said the defendants have been evading service of the charge sheet thereby making their arraignment difficult.

Akposinimingha said owing to this, the prosecution is left with no other choice than to ask for the leave of the court in line with section 382(5) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 to serve the processes on the defendants at the Head Office of Access Bank in Lagos, who is the third defendant.

Counsel to ICPC said the ICPC in another application is seeking an order of court to arrest the defendants in the event they refused to respond to the service on them through their head office.

Justice Musa, while responding, granted the two applications of the prosecution and adjourned till February 14 for the arraignment of the defendants.

According to documents filed in court, the ICPC said it had sometime in September 2015 received an intelligence report on alleged illicit financial transactions against Blaid Construction Limited and Blaid Properties Limited.

The commission said it carried out a discreet investigation into the allegations, a process that led to interrogation of operators of the company's accounts.

It subsequently wrote Access Bank and other banks the companies operated corporate accounts with to freeze them.

ICPC said on November 6, there was need to unfreeze the said accounts of the companies, and it wrote all the banks including Access Bank Plc.

However, failure by Access Bank to comply with the directive led to the commission summoning the defendants who it said refused to appear before it.

ICPC said it had during the pendency of the investigation secured an interim forfeiture order against funds in various accounts of the companies who were asked to show reason why the funds should not be permanently forfeited.

It said the court at the end of the proceeding ordered the release of the frozen accounts.

The charges against the defendants read thus: "That you Mr. Herbert Wigwe (M) Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, sometime in November 2017 or thereabout within the jurisdiction of this court willfully refused to honour a lawful invitation by the ICPC in respect of allegations of refusal to release the Post No Debit order on all the accounts of Blaid Construction Limited and Blaid Properties Limited respectively, upon receipt of an order directing you and your bank (Access Bank Plc) to do so, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 28 (10) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

"That you Neka Adogu (F), a staff of Access Bank Plc, sometime in November 2017 within the jurisdiction of this court willfully refused to honour a lawful invitation by the ICPC in respect of allegations of refusal to release the Post No Debit order on all the accounts of Blaid Construction Limited and Blaid Properties Limited respectively, upon receipt of an order directing you and your bank (Access Bank Plc) to do so and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 28 (10) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

"That you Mr. Herbert Wigwe (M) Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc, Neka Adogu (F), a staff of Access Bank Plc, sometime in the month of November 2017 or thereabout within the jurisdiction of this court, conspired to frustrate investigation activities of ICPC by

willfully refusing to obey a lawful order on November 6, 2017, which was delivered/received on November 7, 2017, instructing you and your bank (Access Bank Plc) to release the Post No Debit order on all the accounts of Blaid Construction Limited and Blaid Properties Limited respectively, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 26(c) and punishable under section 15(c) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

"That you Mr. Herbert Wigwe (M) Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank Plc sometime in the month of November 2017 or thereabout within the jurisdiction of this court, conspired to willfully refuse to obey a lawful order on November 6, 2017, delivered/received on November 7, 2017, instructing you and your bank (Access Bank Plc) to release the Post No Debit order on all the accounts of Blaid Construction Limited and Blaid Properties Limited respectively, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 26(c) and punishable under section 28(10) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.”