Emmanuel Thomas l Wednesday, October 16, 2019
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – Former Chief of Army Staff, Leut. Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi today told a Lagos High Court, sitting in Ikeja, that he filed and declared all his assets at the Code of Conduct Bureau(CCB) in 1994 when he was a Brigadier General in the Nigerian Army.
Bamaiyi who spoke under cross examination by Olalekan Ojo, SAN in the ongoing trial of serial fraudster, Mr. Fred Ajudua for USD 8.4 million fraud was responding to question from the defence if he is aware of the provision of the CCB requiring all public officers to file and truthfully declare their assets.
“Yes, I declared the ones in my names, the one referred to here, I will look for them, those I filed properly. I have burnt some of these documents. I filled and declared all my assets with code of conduct”, he affirmed before the court.
Starconnectmedia reported that the cross examination tended towards intimidating the complainant that he had to challenge the denfence not to bully him. The defence team has been battling spiritedly to discredit evidence before the court in support of claims put forward by the claimant and possibly turn the case against the complainant and probably cow him into out of court settlement.
But Ishaya Bamaiyi had been consistent in his testimony, carefully chosing his words in defence of his claims. He told the court that he gave a note to his junior brother, Barrister Danladi Bamaiyi to sell his property in Sanusi Fafunwa in Lagos and Kaduna and keep the proceeds.
He said the sum of USD 400,000 was realised and part of the money was used to buy cattles for his farm, Wadtare Farms, in the village and other farm implements. Wadtare Farms has been in existence since 1984 before it was incorporated.
He told the court that it was from this source that money that the legal fee for Afe Babalola, SAN was paid when his matter came up. He explained that though he had heared of the ‘Power of Attorney’, what he gave was a written note to his brother to sell the properties and that he is naive if the written note constuted the Power of Attorney.
Bamaiyi also told the court that other properties were sold. Justice Josephine Oyefesor has adjourned the matter to November 8 for continuation of cross examination.
