A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has dismissed a no-case submission application filed by three directors of an oil firm, Petro Union Oil and Gas Limited, who are currently standing trial over an alleged £2.6 billion fraud.

The trial judge, Mohammed Liman, while delivering ruling on the application on Wednesday virtually, held that the Federal Government had made out a prima facie case against the company and its directors, which requires them to enter a defence.

Justice Liman, however, ruled that the company’s Financial Consultant, Abayomi Kukoyi, had no case to answer, as his involvement in the series of incidents leading to the alleged crime was in a professional capacity.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting the defendants before the court on allegations of conspiracy, obtaining money by false pretences, attempting to steal and forgery.

The company’s directors on trial are Kingsley Okpala, Chidi Okpalaeze and Emmanuel Okpalaeze. The anti-graft agency had claimed that the defendants fraudulently procured a cheque from a foreign bank for £2.556 billion under the pretext that it was meant to construct three petrochemical refinery complexes in Nigeria.

They were also alleged to have, sometime in April 2007, forged a statement of account in the name of Goldmatic Limited, which was used to obtain £2,159,221,313.54 billion.

They all pleaded not guilty to the charges. The EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), while challenging the no-case submission application, had maintained that the prosecution had, through its witnesses, established a prima facie case of fraud against the defendants.

Jacobs argued that all investigations by Union Bank, Central Bank, Bankers’ Committee and the EFCC confirmed that the defendants were clearly engaged in fraudulent activities.

Meanwhile, the trial of Petro Union and its directors is now expected to be transferred to another judge of the Federal High Court as Justice Liman has been elevated to the Court of Appeal.