Tunde Ayeni, the former chairman of Skye Bank Plc’s board of directors, stood before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie at the FCT High Court in Apo on Thursday to face fraud charges brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for the third time. EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale confirmed in a statement that Ayeni had first been arraigned on May 4, 2026, then again on June 22, before Thursday’s proceeding made it a third round of plea-taking.
This latest appearance centered on an amended 18-count charge accusing Ayeni of criminal breach of trust, misappropriation and diverting N15.6 billion in funds during his time overseeing the bank now known as Polaris Bank Limited. Two counts in particular illustrate the scale of what prosecutors allege. The first accuses Ayeni of dishonestly moving more than N3 billion in depositors’ money on November 20, 2014, sending it to an account belonging to Misa Limited at Zenith Bank. The second, count nine, claims that less than two weeks later, on December 2, 2014, he misappropriated over N5 billion by directing its transfer to a Greenwich Registrars account held with Union Bank.
According to the EFCC, both transactions violated the terms of Ayeni’s contract with the defunct Skye Bank and fall under section 311 of the Penal Code, an offence punishable under section 312 of the same law.
When the charges were read out in court, Ayeni entered a plea of not guilty. Prosecution counsel Abba Muhammed, SAN, then asked the court to begin trial immediately, noting that the commission’s first witness was already present and ready to testify. Defence counsel Olalekan Ojo, SAN, objected, arguing that prosecutors had failed to file a summary of the witness’s statements, a procedural step he insisted needed to happen first.
Muhammed countered that this summary had, in fact, already been submitted alongside the second amended charge. After weighing both sides, Justice Onwuegbuzie ruled that the prosecution had met its procedural obligations, clearing the way for the case to proceed. He adjourned the matter to July 20, 22 and 23, 2026, when trial is expected to continue.
The case marks one of several high-profile prosecutions tied to the collapse of Skye Bank, which was rescued through a Central Bank intervention and later rebranded as Polaris Bank amid allegations of mismanagement during the era Ayeni chaired its board.
