Ex-Lagos Education Director Jailed for N48.9 Million Access Bank Fraud
An Ikeja Special Offences and Domestic Violence Court has sentenced a former Lagos State Education Director, Olawale Faleti, to two years and five months in prison after the ex-Lagos education director was jailed for N48.9 million Access Bank fraud, which was confirmed by the court. The judgment was delivered on Monday by Justice Rahman Oshodi.
The sixty-four-year-old was convicted on five counts of theft following charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The court found that the former Lagos Education Director was guilty of N48.9 million fraud in Access Bank after it was revealed that Faleti deliberately withdrew funds without authorization.
In his ruling, Justice Oshodi described Faleti’s actions as deliberate and sustained. He noted that the convict repeatedly accessed the funds illegally and did not show genuine remorse or full acceptance of responsibility.
“Financial institutions are the backbone of our economy, and public trust in them must be safeguarded,” the judge stated. “Anyone attempting to defraud banks must understand that severe penalties will ensue.”
Although Faleti was identified as a first-time offender, the court ruled that a custodial sentence was unavoidable. The ex-Lagos education director was jailed for the fraud after Oshodi applied a twenty percent reduction from the statutory maximum sentence of three years due to partial restitution made by the convict.
Faleti was sentenced to two years and five months imprisonment on each of the five counts, to run concurrently. The sentence is scheduled to commence on January 5, 2026, and the court ordered that his biometric details be entered into the Lagos State Judiciary offenders registry.
The court also directed Faleti to repay the outstanding sum of N45.9 million to Access Bank Plc after deducting the N3 million already refunded. The bank was instructed to inform the court once full repayment has been completed.
During the proceedings, EFCC’s counsel, Ahmed Dambuwa, explained that Faleti exploited unauthorized access to an Access Bank credit card to convert the funds dishonestly. A system error during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 allowed him to withdraw about N48 million from the card.
Specific charges included the illegal conversion of N12.6 million between July 2 and July 10, 2020, and N6.9 million between May 22 and July 1, 2020. The offences were found to contravene Section 287, subsection 1a, of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
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