Lagos State Government has arraigned a former staff of The Punch Newspapers Limited, Olusegun Ogunbanjo, over alleged involvement in fraud to the tune of N950 million.

Ogunbanjo was arraigned before the Lagos State Special Offences Court, Ikeja, presided over by Justice Ismail Ijelu on an eight count charge bordering on the alleged offence and had pleaded not guilty to all the counts as read to him. As a result of the not-guilty plea position of the defendant, the counsel for the LASG, Somade, asked the judge for a trial date in October.

But in his response, the counsel for the defendant, S. E Okeke, who hinted to the court that he was just getting into the matter, pleaded with the judge for a short date to enable him to file an application for bail on behalf of the defendant.

In a short ruling, Justice Ijelu, while stating that the defendant's lawyer had nothing before the court to warrant him being attended to, directed that Ogunbanjo should remain in Kirikiri Correctional Facility pending when his bail application would be ready and entertained by the court. The judge adjourned the matter until October 16, 2024, for the commencement of trial.