In a surprising development, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has decided to drop gospel singer Mercy Chinwo’s name from the fraud charges initially brought against gospel music executive Ezekiel Onyedikachi, widely known as EeZeeTee.
Originally, the EFCC accused EeZeeTee, the CEO of EeZee Global Concept Ltd, of unlawfully converting Chinwo’s earnings.
However, during a hearing at the Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday, the commission presented a revised eight-count charge that shifted the focus to violations of financial regulations.
The new allegations claim that EeZeeTee failed to disclose the company’s financial transactions and participated in unauthorized foreign exchange deals from 2022 to 2023.
According to the EFCC, the company received $255,436 during this timeframe but did not adequately report this to the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering.
Additionally, the commission maintains that in June 2023, while not officially sanctioned by the Central Bank of Nigeria as a foreign currency buyer, EeZeeTee negotiated a foreign exchange deal with Mr. Oladotun Mureke equivalent to $52,895.
Another allegation states that he engaged in a separate transaction for $18,775 with Gift Ugochi Christopher, circumventing the official foreign exchange market.
EeZeeTee pleaded not guilty to all charges. His counsel, Chikaosolu Ojukwu (SAN), informed the court that a bail application had been submitted and served to the EFCC.
He requested that bail be granted on lenient terms, revealing that both sides were considering an out-of-court settlement.
However, EFCC counsel Bilikisu Buhari opposed the bail request, urging the court to keep the defendant in custody until a ruling on the bail application was made.
Judge Chukwujekwu Aneke sought clarification on EeZeeTee’s presence in court.
While the EFCC asserted that an arrest warrant existed, Ojukwu countered that his client had received administrative bail and had voluntarily appeared in court, with no record of any previous EFCC summons being ignored.
The judge postponed the decision on the bail application until May 9, 2025, and ordered EeZeeTee to be released to his lawyer in the interim.
Outside the courtroom, tensions escalated as EFCC agents attempted to re-arrest EeZeeTee at the court’s exit. The situation was resolved without incident, following the intervention of a senior EFCC official, Lagos the defendant to leave peacefully.
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