Musician Felix Duke Denies Alleged ₦21.25m Fraud as Court Case Begins

Musician Felix Duke Osagie, known professionally as Felix Duke, has pleaded not guilty to four charges connected to an alleged ₦21.25 million fraud. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned him at the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, where Justice Ismail O. Ijelu is hearing the case, according to the commission and court proceedings reported by the source. The charges include stealing, obtaining money by false pretence, retaining proceeds of crime and giving false information. One count alleges that Duke took and converted ₦21.25 million belonging to Joseph Onuh Oguche in 2020. These remain allegations, and the musician denied all the charges when they were read in court. The prosecution also alleges that Duke made a false statement to EFCC investigators on April 2, 2026, regarding a parcel of land at Ise, Ibeju-Lekki, which he claimed he had authority to sell. The alleged offence is said to fall under the EFCC Establishment Act. After Duke entered his plea, prosecution counsel Abdulhamid Lamido Tukur asked the court to schedule the matter for trial and remand him in a correctional centre. Defence counsel Sunday Afolabi told the court that a bail application had already been filed, backed by an affidavit from Duke’s wife, and asked that bail be granted on liberal terms or on the musician’s own recognisance. Tukur opposed the request, saying the EFCC had filed a counter-affidavit. He alleged that Duke had failed to honour administrative bail since July 2026 and also pointed to a fundamental-rights case being pursued in another court. The source does not report a ruling on the bail application or give a date for the next hearing.