BENIN CITY – A Federal High Court sitting in Benin City has adjourned until June 30, 2026, the alleged money laundering case instituted against Jessica Iguodala Oghomwen.
The adjournment followed an oral application by the prosecutor, P. Odion, who when the case was mentioned sought more time to enable him gather additional information in furtherance of an earlier order of the court.
Prior to Wednesday’s proceedings, the court had granted the order for substituted service.
The prosecutor had at the last court sitting informed the court that the order had been executed through publications in The Nigerian Observer and Vanguard newspapers, as well as by pasting notices on the Federal High Court’s Notice Board.
Odion told the court that his application was anchored on Section 80, Part 7 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, which empowers a prosecutor to seek the attachment of a defendant’s property where such a defendant is evasive or fails to comply with a court summons.
Quoting the provision, he said: “If a court has issued a summons or warrant and has reason to believe that the person has absconded or is concealing themselves to evade the service of the summons or execution of the warrant, the court may order the attachment of their property.”
He further cited Section 81 of the ACJA, noting that it authorises the court to order the attachment of any property, whether movable or immovable, belonging to such a suspect.
At Wednesday’s sitting, counsel to the defendant, Dele Igbinedion, Esq., opposed the application, accusing the prosecution of deliberately delaying the matter through repeated requests for adjournment.
He noted that the case had lingered since 2025 and questioned why, for over a month, the prosecution had failed to file the motion required to advance the court’s earlier order.
Igbinedion therefore urged the court to either ask the prosecutor to withdraw the case or, in the alternative, strike it out.
In response, the prosecutor described the defence counsel’s submissions as contemptuous, arguing that the defendant had failed to appear in court to take her plea.
Citing the case of Dariye vs FRN (2025 NWLR), Odion maintained that a party who evades court process is not entitled to be heard until he or she submits to the jurisdiction of the court and seeks its indulgence.
After listening to arguments from both the prosecution and defence counsel, the presiding judge, Justice B. Quadri, adjourned the case to June 30, 2026, for further proceedings.
