In London we trust...as Erastus Akingbola play host to the Olympiads.

London seems to be a Mecca of sort for some prominent Nigerians of recent. A preferred destination, from an ex-convict turns governor and now to a rogue banker. The choice of London is unconnected with the Olympics games going on neither is it correlated with the tourism haven the British country provides its foreign guests, but rather the ineptitude of our judicial system to prosecute corrupt Nigerians. After months of protracted battle with the irresolute made-in-Nigeria judicial system, the big man that held sway at the helms of affair in the defunct intercontinental bank is a potential gold medal candidate in a soon to be pronounced British court unless perhaps our judicial arm can spring up surprises to save us the hassles of another Ibori. The banking reform exercise carried out by Sanusi Lamido exposed Erastus Akingbola’s fraudulent deals to the tune of three hundred and forty six billion (N346 Billion) under fake pretence using his experience and wide knowledge of banking and finance to secure and collect the proceed of his crimes in various investments and assets in choice areas of the world. For many Nigerians following this turn of event fervently, we did not expect an affluent Akingbola to be hauled up by the law enforcement agency as it was the case with past corrupt offenders, only for the case to die a natural death, forgotten and or digress into another high profile corruption case in all with no tangible results and the vicious cycle continues. This second pronouncement by a Uk Court after the ex- governor of Delta State sentence to court, we have shown the world that our judiciary is either incompetent or enmeshed in corrupt practices. A judiciary believed to be reeling in corruption instead of abating allegations of professional and ethical misconduct against supposedly highly placed individuals that acquires wealth illegally. The system we operate is designed to protect the guilty causing social problems, which is the bane of our economic backwardness. However bad our judicial system may be, not to worry, it seems the British court will always come to our rescue whenever we fail the litmus test on our home soil. “The judgement in a fraud lawsuit filed by Access Bank against Mr Akingbola, the presiding judge, Justice Burton ruled comprehensively in favour of the bank in respect of all aspects of its claims against the defendant. Justice Burton said Mr Akingbola is responsible for directing the bank to buy its own shares at a loss of about N145 billion, siphoning money to companies controlled by him or his family and using Intercontinental bank’s funds to buy real estate in the U.K.” According to the judgment, Mr Akingbola wrongfully caused the bank to acquire 3.7 billion of its own shares between 2007 and 2009, and that he directed abou9t 68 million pounds to a group of companies in which he had an interest in order to help them pay off “substantial debts.” Akingbola, oblivious that it is no longer business as usual, might have perfected his own tribulations with the 3rd arm of law by evading earlier invitation by the EFCC to arrest him for interrogation, he absconded from the country, and has reportedly been a fugitive from justice since then before the warrant for his arrest subsequently, only to resurface suddenly when all chips are down to cook up crooked stories blaming Sanusi Lamido’s bank audit reform for his predicaments. Erastus Akingbola made having failed at made further attempts severally to implicate Bukola Saraki in a shady loan deals and drag his wife to disrepute. It is evident by these investigations that Bukola Saraki has been vindicated by this judgement even prior to a prolonged meeting with police without any proof of the said non-performing loan; it was just an inescapable event waiting for an exposé at the right time. Akingbola and his cronies indulge in lies to distort facts and engage in the heinous act of using unsuspecting customer’s bank account without their consent to defraud the bank of its accumulated shares to the tune of several billions of naira. How much did Akingbola pay the Inspector General of Police, M.D Abubakar’s bagman; the Indian called Raj to vilify the innocent individuals aforementioned above with the aim of implicating and defaming their persons. The reign of evil has surely come to an end and Akingbola by proxy will have to sell his ill-gotten properties in the event that he is unable to produce the one hundred and sixty four billion naira (N164Billion) in cash illegally obtained from access bank. In the wake of the judgement amidst the media backlash, Mr Akingbola apparently embarrassed by the outcome of the UK court verdict describes it as been at variance with all evidence at the hearing. But then I can understand where Akingbola is coming from, he does not trust the judgement neither does he trust himself; a phenomenon used often by corrupt officer as a scheme to prolong court cases and delay justice until it dies naturally. Fortunately, the pronouncement was made in Britain and we can only hope that this historic judgement delivered in the United Kingdom can be replicated in our high court to follow the path of credence.