Contractors indicted by the Lagos coroner for the collapse of the six storey guest house at Synagogue Church of All Nations – Oladele Ogundele and Akinbola Fatiregun – have challenged the legality of the court processes served them by Lagos State government.
At the resumed hearing of the charges preferred against them on Tuesday, counsels to the engineers, E. L. Akpofure (SAN) and Mrs. Akinlawon (SAN) filed an application, arguing that the prosecution erred in law by pasting the court’s processes on the entrance of the defendants’ house a day before court’s hearing as against three days stipulated by law.
Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, had, at the last hearing in December 2015, ordered the Lagos State government to serve the defendants through substituted means after several attempts to serve them were unsuccessful.
But the counsels to the defendants contended that the service of the process did not conform with provisions of the law.
“The manner of service by way of substitution is spelt out by the law. So carrying out such service in the manner they did is nullity, “Akpofure said.
Akinlawon also leaned on the submission made by her learned colleague as she insisted that the provisions of the law for serving court processes be followed to the letter.
All efforts made by the state’s Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mrs. E.I. Alakija for the defendants to be arraigned were not successful as the court directed the prosecution to file its response to the defendants’ application.
