An Ikeja Special Offences Court has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to return $20,000 to Mr. Olalekan Abdul, which was collected from him in 2019 as part of his bail conditions.
Justice Mojisola Dada issued the ruling after hearing arguments from the prosecution counsel, T.A. Mokuolu, and the applicant’s counsel, O.C. Olatunji.
The judge granted the release of the $20,000 — identified as the defendant’s property and marked as Exhibit B during court proceedings on March 8, 2023. The funds, which were previously held in an escrow domiciliary account at Polaris Bank in the name of the Chief Registrar of the Lagos State High Court, are to be returned to Abdul following the conclusion of the trial.
In addition, the court ordered the lifting of a lien and the release of N10 million held in the Access Bank account of Abdul’s surety, Mrs. Jemilat Oluremi Yusuf-Sada. The sum had also been part of the conditions for Abdul’s bail, based on a court ruling issued on January 31, 2020.
This development follows the court’s earlier decision on March 5, 2025, in which Justice Dada discharged and acquitted both Olalekan Abdul, Managing Director/CEO of Cleanserve, and Azubuike Ishiekwene, the company’s Chairman, of all charges of fraud and forgery filed by the EFCC.
The EFCC had arraigned the defendants in 2019 on a 26-count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery, use of false documents, possession of fraudulent documents, and theft. The charges were based on a petition filed by Mr. Chris Ndulue, who claimed to be a director of Cleanserve, though he was not listed in the records of the Corporate Affairs Commission and held no valid proxy.
Throughout the trial, the EFCC called nine witnesses, while the defence presented four witnesses before the court ultimately ruled in favor of the defendants.
