Skip to main content

Court Adjourns Okupe’s N702Million Money Laundering Trial As Defence Witness Fails To Disclose Details

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has adjourned the money laundering trial of Doyin Okupe, a former senior special assistant on public affairs to Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan till March 5, 2021 for continuation of trial.  

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Okupe, alongside his two companies: Value Trust Investments and Abrahams Telecoms on 59 counts bordering on money laundering and criminal diversion of funds to the tune of N702,000,000.


At the resumed trial on Monday, the defence presented its fourth witness, Bamidele Salami, a member of the House of Representatives, who served as head of media in the office of the then senior special assistant on public affairs to President Jonathan.

Led by Joe Kyari Gadzama, SAN, the witness told the court that “there were approximately 30 staff (members) in different units of the office and the office was funded by the Presidency through the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) under Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd)”. 

He disclosed that funding in the sum of N10 million was provided on a monthly basis in cash to Doyin Okupe through an officer in ONSA.

Bamidele further revealed that N3 million was paid for a programme, ‘Insight’ on Nigerian Television Authority, to correct the negative perception of the former President.

He said it was untrue that the programme was aired “free of charge” as corporate social responsibility by the NTA.

During cross-examination by the prosecution counsel, Ibrahim Audu, the witness was asked whether a weekly publication in the office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), The Federalist, is a private company. The witness, in response, informed the court that The Federalist is not a registered private company with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) but a publication of ONSA.

He, however, claimed ignorance of any contractual agreement between The Federalist newspaper and the Office of National Security Adviser.

According to a release by the EFCC, Bamidele also told the court that he did not have the exact figure of the money that was paid for media engagements, honorarium and other public relations engagements, “but it cost a lot”.

The defence witness’ evidence on the sponsorship of Insight on NTA contradicted the testimony of the first prosecution witness (PW1), Osas Azonabor, an operative of the EFCC, who had told the court “that no receipt was issued for the payment to NTA. However, a letter was written to NTA and investigations further revealed that the programme was aired free of charge as directed by the then Director General of NTA, who said the programme was to be seen as the Corporate Social Responsibility of the NTA.”

Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu thereafter adjourned the trial.

Corruption

Legal

News

AddThis

: 

Original Author

: 

Saharareporters, New York

Disable advertisements

: 

from 24HRSNEWS
via 24HRSNEWS



from EDUPEDIA247https://ift.tt/3p9D5lC
via EDUPEDIA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

N2.5bn Fraud: You Have Case To Answer, Appeal Court Tells Suspended NBC Boss, Kawu

The Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, Ishaq Kawu. The Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, has dismissed an appeal filed by the suspended Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission, Dr Moddibbo Kawu, challenging the decision of the Federal High Court, to dismiss the no-case submission he filed at the lower court. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission had charged Kawu, Lucky Omoluwa (late Chairman of Pinnacle Communications Ltd) and Dipo Onifade, Chief Operating Officer of the same company, before Justice Folashade Ogunbanjo-Giwa, on a 12-count charge of money laundering. Is'haq Modibbo Kaw THISDAYLIVE The suspended NBC boss and his co-accused then approached the appellate court to reverse the judgment of the Federal High Court. The appellate dismissed the no-case submission filed by Kawu and his co-accused and held that they had an explanation to give when he elected to facilitate the payment of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Buhari’s Legacy Of Recessions By Fredrick Nwabufo

Fredrick Nwabufo ‘Why always Buhari?’ As it was in 1984 under General Buhari, so it is in 2016 and 2020 under President Buhari? Is it by the unfortunate hands of kismet that recession hits Nigeria every time Buhari takes charge of the country’s affairs? If the recession of the 80s under Buhari was a conspiracy by economic and political factors, to what do we attribute that of his first coming as a civilian President — and now in his second coming? Why does pestilence scourge the land, hunger ravage the population and lives lost malevolently when Buhari presides over the country? Why always Buhari? Buhari’s undoing is his wonted predilection for hierarchising ethnicity, religion and loyalty above competence. Since 1999, no President has obtrusively shown a more nepotistic aspect than Buhari. It is unarguable that the President arrays the most competence-challenged cabinet ever in the chronicle of governance in Nigeria. Yes, a recession cabinet. Fredrick Nwabufo Here is a cabin...
Post a Comment
Read more

TYPES OF DRAMA II

Comedy: We use the words 'comedy' and comic to describe something that is funny in our everyday lives. These include a joke or a fantastic story that is full of nonsense, or an absurd appearance that makes us giggle, smile or laugh. Comedy is not inherent in things or people but the way things/people are perceived. Comedy is a deliberate presentation of events/experiences drawn from real life but not the same with real life. We should therefore not expect dramatic comedy to be the same as real life. Generally, the plays have good endings or resolutions, so when a play ends happily, we refer to it as comedy. In most comedies, the principal characters begin in a state of opposition either to one another or to their world or both. By the end of the play their opposition .is replaced by harmony. Aristotle in-.his “Poetics” insisted that in tragedy men are shown “better than they are”, while in comedy “worse than they are”. For him it is an artistic imitation of men of inferi...
Post a Comment
Read more