Ibeto’s arraignment had been adjourned multiple times due to his failure to appear in court, although his lawyers were present.
This led former trial judge Justice Ismail Ijelu to agree to the prosecution’s request on November 3, 2023, to order the arrest of Ibeto for not appearing in court despite assurances from his lawyers that he would attend.
However, the case was reassigned to Justice Ogala in February 2024 by the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Kazeem Alogba, after the defendants accused Justice Ijelu of bias and also challenged the court’s jurisdiction over the case.
During the resumed hearing on Wednesday, Jacobs informed the court that both the defendants and the complainant had met with the EFCC and agreed to settle the matter out of court.
Jacobs stated, “Following the last court session, the parties met with the EFCC to explore settlement options, which resulted in the defendants refunding N3.2 billion to the Commission.
“However, two issues remain unresolved: the allegations of forgery and the $3 million that Ibeto denies collecting from the complainant.
“The EFCC has instructed me to withdraw this case in the spirit of reconciliation while the Commission decides how to address the outstanding issues. I therefore request the court to strike out the charges.”
The defence lawyer, Adebayo Oshodi, affirmed in court that an agreement had been reached, resulting in the refund, but denied that any issues remained unresolved.
He stated, “I can confirm to the court that all parties have reached an agreement, and the matter was settled out of court. I, however, deny that there are any outstanding issues.”
After considering the submission from both counsels, Justice Ogala struck out the charges.
