Admin l Monday, April 10, 2017
IKOYI, Lagos, Nigeria – A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos today okayed Christiana Ohiri, a witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to testify against former Governor of Abia State, Chief Orgy Uzor Kalu in the N3.2 billion fraud.
His lordship, Justice Mohammed Idris ruled that arguments posed by the defence team to the effect that the witness who is a Branch Manager with United Bank for Africa, UBA, is not competent to testify does not hold water.
According to Idris, the witness is competent to give evidence in the case since the provisions of the Evidence Act has been complied with by the anti-graft agency. “The proof of evidence before this court is competent,” he said.
At the last hearing, Justice Idris held that the second prosecution witness, Ohiri, brought by the anti-graft agency is competent to testify in the criminal charge instituted against the former governor of Abia state, alongside others from EFCC.
The judge had however declared that Ohiri was who not properly brought before the court. This development prompted Justice Idris to order the EFCC to serve the defence team with additional proof of evidence which will include all the witnesses it intends to call and the summary of their statements.
Ohiri, who is the second witness called by the prosecution had informed Justice Idris that UBA was not informed in advance to make certain documents available.
The witness, who further revealed that she was asked to show up at the EFCC in 2007, apparently to give answers to some questions concerning the documents, maintained that the Abia state government house, Judiciary and Board of Internal Revenue, operated accounts with UBA during the period.
But the former governor through his lawyer, Mike Ozekhime (SAN), objected as to the admissibility of the documents, which includes account statement that they were not certified.
“Certification is a legal requirement under the Evidence Act. Account number 05335455001105, is an account that didn’t have UBA logo, this is just a piece of paper bearing some amount. The other two pages that has the bank’s logo, do not have any certification. The one that has logo was not certified, and the ones that were certified doesn’t have logo.
“This is contrary to Section 84 (1) of the Evidence Act. We therefore objected to their admissibility.”
The SAN further argued that the court should not listen to the second prosecution witness, and that all the evidence so far given by Ohiri should be expunged on the reason that her name was not listed in the Proof-of-Evidence.
Responding, counsel to the anti-graft agency, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), prayed Justice Idris to admit the documents as well as allow the witness to give evidence in the matter.
“The agency had been calling the witness since 2008, and used her evidence when the matter was fresh,” even as he asked the court to admit the documents and allow Ohiri to continue to give evidence in the case.
The former governor was arraigned before Justice Idris alongside his company, Slok Nigeria Ltd., and the state’s former Commissioner for Finance, Jones Ude, on a 34 counts that touches on money laundering. According to the charge, the defendants committed the offence between August 2001 and October 2005.
Specifically, the former governor was accused of using his company to retain in the account of a First Inland Bank, now FCMB the sum of N200 million. The said amount was alleged to have formed part of funds illegally derived from the coffers of the Abia state government when he held sway.
Also Slok Nigeria Limited and one Emeka Abone who the EFCC said is now at large was alleged to have retained in the company’s account N200 million on behalf of the first accused.
They were alleged to have utilised Manny Bank, Spring Bank Plc, the defunct Standard Trust Bank and Finland Bank, now First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to carry out the alleged crime. The defendants were equally alleged to have retained about N2.5 billion in different accounts which funds were said to belong to the Abia State Government.
In totality, the defendants were alleged to have diverted over N3.2 billion from the Abia state government’s treasury when Kalu held sway as governor.
