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Two Witnesses Testify As EFCC Opens Case Against Ex-Gov Obiano

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Two witnesses testified on Tuesday at a Federal High Court, Abuja as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) opened its money laundering case against former Governor of Anambra, Willie Obiano.

A commercial banker staff, Mr Tochukwu Aloysius Nnadi, and an Onitsha-based businesswoman, Mrs Chinwe Patricia Egbunam, were led in evidence as 1st and 2nd prosecution witnesses by EFCC’s lawyer, Mr Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, before Justice Inyang Ekwo.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Obiano was Anambra governor between March 2014 and March 2022.

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The former governor, in a nine-count charge, was alleged to have among others, misappropriated over N4 billion from the state’s treasury.

When the matter was called, Nnadi, the 1st prosecution witness (PW-1), told the court that he was a bank manager at Awka, the capital of Anambra.

The witness said: “My lord, as part of our responsibilities, we manage customers’ accounts and interface with various security and anti-graft agencies in terms of enquiry on a customer’s account.

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“We usually comply by providing the requested information.

“I know the defendant in this matter. He is the immediate past governor of Anambra State.

“In April 2022, I was informed by our compliance unit that I was needed at EFCC in respect of activities of the past administration of Anambra State.

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READ ALSO: NDLEA Bursts Snake-guarded Shrine Used To Store Illicit Drugs, Arrests 2 In Edo[VIDEO]

“I went there with two of my colleagues. The EFCC told me that my invitation was in respect of an ongoing investigation.

“I was told that it was because I was the manager of the branch that handled most of the financial activities of the then state government.

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“The state government maintains various accounts with our bank and one of such accounts was for security votes.”

According to him there was really nothing special about the security votes account.

“It was like every other account that we managed for the state government.

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“The account was mostly funded by the office of the Accountant General of the state and bulk of the funds came from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state.

“Payments into the account was made on weekly basis and all transactions out of the account were always based on the advice of the account operators.

READ ALSO: Ex-Anambra Gov, Obiano Loses Bid To Stop Trial In N40bn Fraud Charges

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“The payments we made out of the account were to various entities and corporate organisations.

“We supplied documents containing names of all the beneficiaries to the EFCC,” the witness added.

However, he declined request by the prosecution counsel, Tahir, to mention names of some of the beneficiaries in the open court.

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Nnadi said doing so would amount to a breach of his “oath of secrecy.”

He said the accounts were mostly funded every week.

“Cash withdrawals, manager’s cheques, transfers and drafts were instruments that were used to remove the funds, based on instructions from the operators of the accounts.

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“Some of the documents I submitted to the EFCC, included the certified true copies (CTCs) of the statements of account, cover letter for the statements of account, packages used to open the account, as well as certificates of identification for each of the accounts,” he said.

READ ALSO: Pastor Chris Oyakhilome Reacts To Fire Incident At Christ Embassy Hqtrs

Meanwhile, the bundle of documents from the bank, totaling 794 pages were tendered and admitted in evidence by the court as Exhibit PW-1 (A1- A 794)

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Another bundle of documents dated June 1, 2023, showing the debits that were made from the accounts, were also admitted in evidence.

Obiano’s lawyer, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, said his client would reserve his objections to the Exhibits and raise them in his final address.

When the witness was asked to read to the court, from the exhibit, some of the names on the list of beneficiaries of funds that were transferred out of the account, he mentioned; “Moment of Peace Ventures, Easy Diamond Integrated Links and Nasda Ventures.”

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When being cross-examined, Nnadi told the court that all the transactions that involved his bank, were done in compliance with the mandate on each account.

He said the mandates were also in accordance with the banking practice.

READ ALSO: Police Hunt For Killers Of Retired Army General Slain In Abuja

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Shortly after Nnadi concluded his evidence and was dismissed, Mrs Egbunam.mounted the box and testified in the matter.

She told the court that she is a trader that specialised in “Turkey wears.”

She told the court that she had on May 20, received a call that she was needed at the EFCC office over some funds that passed through the account of her company, C.I. Party Ventures Nigeria Limited.

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“When I got to the EFCC, I told them that I did not know anything about the money but that I knew that I told my account officer, Mr. Ugochukwu Otibelu, to help me to upgrade my account to enable me to meet requirement of the Embassy of Turkey.

“It was to upgrade the account to enable me to be able to travel and the upgrade was for him to help me and post money into my account.

“My account officer accepted my request and collected my company account and cheque.

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READ ALSO: Police Hunt For Killers Of Retired Army General Slain In Abuja

“However, at the EFCC, I was told that about N156. 8 million passed through my account from the Anambra State Government,” she said.

While being cross-examined, the witness told the court that the arrangement was for her account officer to facilitate the inflow of funds into her company’s account.

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She told the court that she did not touch the money that was wired into the account as it did not belong to her.

More so, the witness told the court that the directors of the company’s account were her family members.

“Outside the fact that the defendant was the governor of Anambra State, I never had any dealings with him,” she added.

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Asked to tell the court about the security situation in the state while Obiano held sway as governor, the witness said: “I currently stay in Anambra. There is usually no movement in the state every Monday because of a sit-at-home order.

“I know ESN and IPOB and they operate fully in Anambra State.”

She said during Obiano’s tenure, the former governor worked with organisations and churches to maintain peace in the state.

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“This was because churches, organisations and even mosques were under threat during that period,” the witness added.

Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter until Wednesday for trial continuation.

 

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16-year-old Killed As NDLEA Operatives, Drug Barons Clash In Edo

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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Edo State Command, and drug barons reportedly clashed at Okpuje, Uzeba community in Owan West Local Government Area, leading to the death of a 16 -years -old boy, identified as Emmanuel Monday George.

Two others identified as God’spower Omage (20 years) and Ajayi Irobia (54 years), were said to have sustained serious injuries during the gun duel which reportedly happened on Monday.

Mitchell Ofoyeju, state commander of the NDLEA disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Benin on Thursday.

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Ofoyeju said that one of its officers sustained an injury after being struck on the hand with a sharp object.

Recall that Army and NDLEA officers were recently attacked by drug barons in the agrarian community, notable for cannabis cultivation.

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JUST IN: Fire Guts Store At Abuja Mall

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A fire incident occurred at the Jabi Lake Mall, Abuja in the early hours of Thursday.

The cause of the fire, which started around 3am, could not be ascertained as of the time of filing this report.

It was gathered that only the Adidas Sports shop was affected.

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It was further gathered that firefighters from the Federal Fire Service, the Berger Fire Department, and the FCT Fire Service, as well as police officers, were deployed to the scene.

READ ALSO: Nigerian Jailed In US Over $6m Inheritance Fraud

A resident of Jabi, Saliu, who informed our correspondent of the incident, said the fire had been contained.

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He said, “Around 3am., this morning, there was a fire incident at the Jabi Lake Mall in Abuja. No loss of life or injury was recorded. Only the Adidas Sports shop was affected by the fire.”

The FCT police spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, confirmed the incident to The PUNCH.

Adeh said police officers were deployed to the location to secure the area and prevent looting.

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“We received a distress call at about 3:40 a.m. We immediately deployed our men there to secure the place and prevent any breach of public order,” she said.

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JUST IN: Hausa, Benin Youths Clash Over Killing Of Suspected Yahoo Boy

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Photo: file copy

Several persons were on Wednesday night injured in a clash between Hausa and Benin youths, in Ogheghe community, Egor Local Government Area of Edo State, over the killing of a suspected yahoo boy identified as Chizi Benz.

According to sources, Chizi Benz was said to have been stabbed to death by a Hausa youth over a sour deal.

Though details of the deal were not available as at press time, the killing of Chidi Benz sparked outrage as youths stormed the streets with dangerous weapons in a revenge mission.

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According to sources, many ‘Abokis’ were injured in a reprisal attack while others fled for safety.

READ ALSO:Deputy Gov Pledges Support For Edo Queens

News of the killing was to have spread to nearby communities of Uwelu along the Siluko Axis, forcing Hausa youths who do petty trading and rides okada closed their businesses and fled for safety.

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According to sources, policemen who were deployed to the area fired tear gas to disperse the angry youths.

Edo Police Spokesman, Moses Yamu, who confirmed the incident, promised to send a detailed statement.

He was yet to do so as at press time.

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