On Monday, an Ikeja Special Offences Court will hear a bail application filed by Olanrewaju James, otherwise known as Baba Ijesha. The court will decide whether the convict has met the special circumstances required for bail.

After hearing arguments from both the prosecuting and defence counsel, Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo set the date.

The bail application is in response to Justice Taiwo’s sentence of a five-year concurrent jail term handed down to Baba Ijesha.

His legal team, on the other hand, is in court to appeal the decision.

Chukwudi Adiukwu, one of the convict’s counsel, told the court on Wednesday that the team brought to notice for bail pending the appeal pursuant to Section 6 (6) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 51 of the High Court Law of Lagos State, Administration of Criminal Justice Law, admitting the applicant to bail, either unconditionally or on reasonable conditions.

Adiukwu stated that the application was made before Justice Taiwo because obtaining a date at the Court of Appeal would be difficult due to the high volume of cases before the court.

He stated that under the prison month calendar, the convict would have served his five-year concurrent jail term in three years and six months before the Appeal Court hearing.

He went on to say that Baba Ijesha was well-behaved in court throughout his trial and was never absent until the verdict.

As a result, he urged the court to consider the convict’s special circumstances before granting bail.

In response, the state prosecuting counsel, Omowunmi Bajulaye-Bishi, stated that the defence counsel failed to establish the special circumstances that would allow Baba Ijesha bail, and thus asked the court not to grant bail to the convict.

Justice Taiwo postponed the decision until September 19, 2022.