A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Apo, yesterday, adjourned till May 25, 2026, to deliver a ruling in an application seeking to admit former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Skye Bank Plc, Tunde Ayeni, to bail.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Ayeni on a 17-count charge bordering on alleged N15.6 billion fraud.

Ayeni, however, pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him.

Counsel to Ayeni, Dele Adesina (SAN), who led the other four senior advocates at the resumed trial yesterday, moved the bail application

desina prayed the court to admit the applicant to bail.

He informed the court that the anti-graft agency had earlier granted Ayeni an administrative bail.

He further submitted that the administrative bail was about to be perfected when the court at the last sitting gave a remand order.

He equally argued that the defendant has a constitutional right of presumption of innocence until it is proved otherwise. Adesina also noted that the offence is a bailable one.

However, the prosecution counsel, G.I. Inde, brought an application opposing the bail application.

He prayed the court to deny the defendant bail.

Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie, after listening to both parties, adjourned for ruling.

It would be recalled that a similar criminal charge was instituted against Ayeni and one Timothy Oguntayo in 2019, in which they pleaded not guilty to all counts.

At the trial before Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Ayeni’s counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), argued that the transactions under investigation by the EFCC were fundamentally commercial and banking transactions rather than criminal diversion of funds and in fact there was already an understanding between the bank and the duo for which the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was sought and obtained by the management of Skye bank.

Subsequently, both parties agreed to settle the matter out of court and informed the court accordingly.
Justice Ojukwu thereafter adopted the settlement terms as the judgment of the court.