Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of a Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed July 1, 2025, as the date to rule on the priority of pending applications in the ongoing alleged N32 billion fraud case involving a legal practitioner, Victor Ukutt and one, Whoba Ogo, who is said to be at large.

The Federal Government had filed an 8-count charge bordering on conspiracy, fraudulent conversion, obtaining by false pretences, forgery and money laundering, in a suit marked FHC/L/138C/2025 against the defendants.

In the charge, the defendants were accused of conspiring between 2011 and 2023 to fraudulently convert approximately N32 billion from the account of a firm, Woobs Resources Limited.

At yesterday’s proceedings, the court took arguments from both defence and prosecution’s lawyers. Addressing the court, prosecution’s lawyer, Mrs. Chelsey Emezina, .informed the court of a pending motion on notice dated May 12, 2025, urging the court to compel the defendants to enter the dock and take their plea.

The motion was supported by an affidavit deposed to by one, David Emiri, a police officer attached to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

However, the defence challenged the validity of the motion, arguing in a counter-affidavit dated May 28, 2025, that the motion was incompetent as it was not signed by a legal practitioner.

One of the defence lawyers, Femi Falana (SAN), contended that a materially defective motion cannot be entertained by the court. He further argued that the issue of jurisdiction must take precedence.