Nigeria, May 10 -- The Supreme Court of Nigeria has ordered the immediate return of Lagos-based businessman and former socialite Fred Ajudua to prison, overturning the bail earlier granted to him by the Court of Appeal in a $1.04 million fraud case that dates back over three decades.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday, May 9, 2025, the apex court ruled that the Court of Appeal erred in its decision to grant Ajudua bail.

"This case is one of the oldest in Lagos State. Bail is refused and the defendant is to be remanded in prison custody," Justice Mojisola Dada, Lagos State High Court said.

Ajudua was once a well-known figure in Lagos' elite social circles in the 1990s and early 2000s and is facing trial for allegedly defrauding...