BY AYO ESAN
THE money laundering trial of former Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Doyin Okupe, before Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court Abuja, has been adjourned till April 26 and 27, 2021 for continuation of trial.
At the resumed trial on Friday, March 5, 2021, counsel to the first defendant, G.K Gadzama, SAN, led in evidence, the fifth defence witness, Ehimare Edokwa Harold, an Assistant Manager at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Branch of Zenith Bank Nigeria limited, Lagos.
The witness told the Court that he was mandated to appear and present the mandate card and statement of account of Romiox Soiffix International Limited, following a subpoena on his bank.
“Our bank was served with a subpoena and I was asked by the bank to represent the bank. I was asked to present a mandate card and a statement of account of Romiox Soiffix international Limited,” he said.
The witness further told the Court that he authored the document on behalf of the bank, adding that “ the certificate of compliance too is here and certified by me; I have been with the bank for 13 years, the statement covered from inception to date and it covered 44 pages.”
But prosecution counsel, Ibrahim Audu, objected to the tendering of the documents, arguing that it was not certified by the bank.
“We are just having the privilege of looking at these documents and we are objecting to these documents because they have not been certified by the bank which it is claimed to have come from. These documents have not been certified by the bank, and that is our objection. But if my lord is minded about certifying the document, it is okay,” he said.
However, Gadzama urged the Court to accept the documents in evidence, describing them as primary documents.
Justice Ojukwu admitted the documents, marked as exhibit Q and R, and adjourned the matter till 26 and 27 April, 2021 for continuation of trial.
The EFCC is prosecuting Okupe alongside his two companies – Value Trust Investments and Abrahams Telecoms – on a 59-count charge bordering on money laundering and criminal diversion of funds to the tune of N702,000,000(Seven Hundred and two Million Naira) only.
