By Nikky Chinundu

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo, has described as an abuse of court process the decision of the Lagos State Government to order a fresh police investigation into a case already pending before the Lagos High Court.

Oyetibo, who is lead defence counsel to property developer Alex Ochonogor, made the declaration yesterday during proceedings at the Tafawa Balewa Square division of the High Court.

Ochonogor is standing trial alongside two lawyers, Ademola Owolabi and Adebayo Akeju, over alleged offences of conspiracy, forgery, and willful destruction of property.

The trio were arraigned on a five-count charge filed by the Lagos State Government under suit number LD/23611C/2024. The prosecution alleges that the defendants forged land documents and demolished a property located in the Lekki area of Lagos.

When the matter came up before Justice Sherifat Sonaike on Monday, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Dr. Babajide Martins, applied for an adjournment, saying the Attorney-General (AG) and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN), had directed the police to reinvestigate the case.

Dr. Martins said: “The matter is not going on as the AG has directed that the police reinvestigate it. I would like to ask for an adjournment for a couple of months so that the police can carry out the investigation.”

While counsel for the first and second defendants — Dr. Abiodun Layonu (SAN) and M. A. Bashua (SAN) — did not object to the adjournment, Oyetibo protested sharply, describing the move as both oppressive and a gross abuse of process.

According to him: “We see this as an oppression. It’s an abuse of the court process. You cannot file a matter and then now ask the police to reinvestigate it. The case shouldn’t have come to court in the first place if it had not been investigated.”

Responding, Dr. Martins told the court that the reinvestigation directive arose from concerns raised by one of the defence lawyers, denying that the prosecution was acting oppressively.

Justice Sonaike noted that she was aware the suggestion for a reinvestigation had emanated from the first defendant’s counsel, Dr. Layonu, but that the state initially claimed ignorance of the letter requesting the review.

Oyetibo, however, insisted that reopening an already investigated case was unnecessary and could compromise judicial fairness.

He maintained that since the police had previously completed their investigations and charges had been filed, the proper course of action was to proceed with trial.

 “If the defence were aware of the letter and the state was not, then there is a serious problem.

“The police have already investigated this case, and we are ready to prove our client’s innocence in open court.”

Following the exchanges, Justice Sonaike adjourned the matter to January 12, 2026, directing the police to communicate their findings to the prosecution and the court.

By Oyetibo’s protest, the defence position is that the Attorney-General should halt any further police reinvestigation and allow the case to continue, as restarting the process would amount to a waste of judicial time and an infringement on the defendants’ right to fair hearing.