The Court of Appeal in Lagos has acquitted and discharged Hilary Ogbobe, overturning his conviction and seven-year prison sentence over an alleged N12 million fraudulent dredger transaction. A three-member panel of the court, in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Joseph Eyo Ekanem, held that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Ogbobe obtained the money by false pretence or dishonestly stole it. This decision was made on September 21, 2026.
Ogbobe had been convicted by the High Court on May 2, 2023, and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for obtaining money by false pretence and three years for stealing, with the sentences to run concurrently. The case followed a transaction in which Ogbobe allegedly approached the complainant, identified as PW1, to raise money for the purchase of a scrap dredger purportedly being sold by the Lagos State Government. PW1 paid about N12.4 million into the account of a company linked to Ogbobe.
The prosecution’s case was that the dredger was later sold to another person and that Ogbobe subsequently told the complainant he wanted to invest the money in an oil and gas business and would repay it within 90 days. However, Ogbobe denied the allegations, maintaining that the dredger existed but the proposed purchase collapsed after the complainant failed to provide the agreed funds within the required period. He further told the court that, after the dredger deal failed, the complainant agreed that the money could be invested in the purchase and sale of diesel in Ghana, but the transaction subsequently failed.
In allowing the appeal, Justice Ekanem said the prosecution had failed to establish the essential ingredients of obtaining money by false pretence. The judge noted that the trial court itself had found that the alleged false pretence concerned the existence of the scrap dredger. However, the Court of Appeal held that the prosecution retained the burden of proving that allegation. The court cited earlier authorities emphasising the duty to investigate an accused person’s defence.
Justice Ekanem particularly faulted the investigation into Ogbobe’s defence, noting that he had told the police in his statement that the dredger was at a particular dredge yard in Satellite Town, Lagos, but the investigating officer failed to visit the location or establish whether the dredger had ever been there. The judge observed that the officer “did not ask the appellant to take him to the said yard to ascertain its existence and to find out if such dredger was there or was ever taken there.”
The Court of Appeal also examined what happened after the dredger transaction failed. According to the judgment, PW1 agreed to allow Ogbobe to invest the money in an oil business, with the understanding that the money would subsequently be repaid. Justice Ekanem said the evidence did not show that PW1 had been forced into the arrangement. The court consequently held that the failure to repay the money did not turn the business dispute into a criminal offence.
The court described the underlying matter as a failed contractual transaction, stressing that civil remedies, rather than criminal proceedings, were the appropriate means of addressing such a dispute. The appellate court also faulted the N10 million profit awarded by the trial court to PW1, holding that, having resolved the substantive issues in favour of Ogbobe, “the learned trial judge was not right in awarding profit of N10 million to the PW1.”
Key points
- The Court of Appeal in Lagos acquitted Hilary Ogbobe of a seven-year prison sentence for an alleged N12 million fraudulent dredger transaction.
- The prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Ogbobe obtained the money by false pretence or dishonestly stole it.
- The court described the underlying matter as a failed contractual transaction, stressing that civil remedies, rather than criminal proceedings, were the appropriate means of addressing such a dispute.
