Akingbola seeks to travel abroad on health grounds

Former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc (now Access Bank Plc), Erastus Akingbola, on Monday asked a Lagos High Court in Ikeja, to release his travelling documents to enable him to travel to London for medical treatment.

Through separate applications, the former bank chief and his co-accused, Mr. Bayo Dada, are also seeking the court to remove the mandatory report at the EFCC in Lagos every Monday as part of the bail conditions granted then after they were initially arraigned in 2011.

Both applications were adjourned till April 19 for hearing.

Justice Habeeb Abiru, who was initially hearing the matter before his elevation to the Court of Appeal in October 2012, had also ordered the seizure of their passports as part of the bail conditions.

Akingbola made the request to be allowed to travel abroad in an application dated March 19,2013.

The application was filed by his counsel, Mr. Mike Igbokwe (SAN), before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo, who took over the case after Abiru departed for the Court of Appeal.

Beside, Akingbola, Dada, who was the General Manager of Tropics Finance Limited were re-arraigned before Onigbanjo  for allegedly stealing N47.1bn belonging to Intercontinental Bank.

Igbokwe stated in the application that Akingbola was billed to keep a medical appointment  April 15 at Harley Street Hospital in London, United Kingdom.

He argued in the application that granting  Akingbola the permission to travel for the on medical grounds would not frustrate his trial.

Igbokwe said, 'The application is to enable the first defendant (Akingbola) to quickly go for the treatment and come back for his trial.

'Medical appointments are fixed by doctors and this application is not meant to induce the court to exercise its discretion in the first defendant's favour.'