Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos has withdrawn from further proceedings in the criminal case involving a Briton, Marcus Wade, and two Indian nationals, Prem Garg and Devashish Garg, who are facing allegations of defrauding Ecobank Plc of $42.48m.
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The matter, marked FHC/L/CS/562C/2022, involves the Federal Republic of Nigeria against Prem Garg and four others. The charge was filed by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation against the defendants and their companies, Wilben Trade Limited and Agrico Agbe Limited, over allegations bordering on conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretence and fraud.
According to the charge, the defendants allegedly obtained the sum of $42.48m from Ecobank in 2015 under the pretext of importing rice into Nigeria.
One of the counts alleged that Prem Garg and Devashish Garg, both Indian nationals; Agrico Agbe Limited, a company registered in Nigeria; Wilben Trade Limited, Dubai; and Marcus Wade, Chairman of Wilben Trade Limited, Dubai, conspired to commit the alleged offence between May and September 2015 at Ecobank Plc, Lagos.
Despite the charge having been filed since 2022, the defendants have yet to appear before the court to take their plea.
The latest development followed petitions and correspondence by the legal team of Marcus Wade and Wilben Trade Limited, alleging bias and requesting that the matter be transferred from Justice Aluko to another judge of the Federal High Court, Lagos.
In a letter dated March 2, 2026, addressed to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court through the Chief Registrar, the law firm of Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe & Belgore requested the transfer of the case from Justice Aluko to another judge. The firm alleged what it described as “a pattern of partiality” against its clients, Marcus Wade and Wilben Trade Limited, and claimed that the alleged partiality was most recently shown during proceedings held on October 23, 2025.
The lawyers complained that when the matter came up on October 23, 2025, all the defendants were absent and that counsel for the prosecution was also not in court. They stated that the recorded appearances included I. A. Akinteye, who was holding watching brief for the nominal complainant, Ecobank; Ademola Obayomi for Zenith Bank; and V. A. Aduwa for GTB and Citi Bank Nigeria Limited.
The defence lawyers alleged that Justice Aluko improperly allowed counsel holding watching brief for the nominal complainant to address the court and effectively conduct the prosecution’s case in the absence of the prosecutor.
They relied on the Court of Appeal decision in Adio v. Federal Republic of Nigeria, arguing that counsel holding watching brief for a victim “may only be seen and not heard” unless leave of court is sought and granted. They further contended that even if such leave had been granted, it would not permit counsel holding watching brief to conduct the prosecution’s case or apply for an adjournment on behalf of the prosecution.
The law firm maintained that the proceedings of October 23, 2025 represented another instance of alleged partiality in favour of Ecobank and to the detriment of Marcus Wade and Wilben Trade Limited.
In a separate petition to the National Judicial Council, submitted by Babajide Ogundipe, FCIArb, Consultant to Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe & Belgore, Justice Aluko was accused of displaying partiality towards Ecobank Nigeria Limited and against the petitioner’s clients from the time the charge first came before him.
The petition alleged that the judge had permitted Ecobank, described as a private party, to “instrumentalise” the Federal High Court, a public institution, against Marcus Wade and Wilben Trade Limited. It stated that although the petitioner alleged several instances of partiality, the complaint before the NJC was limited to the conduct of the judge on October 23, 2025, while other complaints were already the subject of appeals pending before the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division.
In the verifying affidavit, Ogundipe stated that he acted as the legal practitioner who received instructions directly from Marcus Wade and Wilben Trade Limited and prepared processes filed on their behalf. He also stated that the proceedings of October 23, 2025 came to his attention on October 28, 2025, after a media publication on the case was brought to his attention.
He further stated that an application was made for the certified true copy of the October 23 proceedings, but that the Federal High Court did not provide the copy until February 20, 2026, almost four months later.
When the case came up on Monday, the defendants were again absent from court.
Counsel for the first, second and fourth defendants, Demola Seriki, announced his appearance, while counsel for the nominal complainant, I. A. Akinteye, informed the court that the prosecutor could not travel from Abuja to Lagos for the hearing.
During proceedings, Justice Aluko addressed the petition filed against him and rejected allegations of bias or personal interest in the matter.
The judge said judicial proceedings require the active cooperation of parties and noted that the defendants had repeatedly failed to appear before the court despite opportunities and official notices.
He also stated that notices issued in the matter were regular and that the court had not acted to mislead any party.
“I do not have any personal interest in this case,” the judge said.
He added that several cases pass through his court and that the Ecobank matter was not an exception.
Justice Aluko consequently recused himself from the case and directed that the case file be returned to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another judge.
“The case file will be returned to the Chief Judge for assignment to another judge for further prosecution of the matter,” he held.
The recusal is expected to further delay proceedings in the criminal charge, which has remained pending since 2022 without the defendants taking their plea.
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