A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday heard that the Ministry of External Affairs, in 2015, paid N800 million into the account of a firm, Jointrust Dimension Limited, without a contract.
A prosecution witness, Mr Shehu Shuaibu, stated this at the resumed trial of former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, and others, facing alleged N4.6 billion money laundering charge.
Fani-Kayode’s co-defendants are: a former Minister of State for Finance, Nenandi Usman, and a former Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Yusuf Danjuma.
Jointrust Dimension Limited is the fourth defendant.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) preferred a 17-count charge against the defendants.
They each pleaded not guilty and were released on bail.
The EFCC opened its case and Shuaibu was the third prosecution witness.
During the examination-in-chief by prosecution counsel Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, the witness told Justice Rilwan Aikawa his findings while investigating the allegations against the defendants.
He said investigations revealed that the N800 million was paid into the account of Jointrust Dimension Limited on January 16, 2015.
The witness also said the money came from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), adding that the signatories to the account were Darbisu and Benjamin, both former workers of the ministry but employees of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
He further testified that on January 13, 2015, N400 million was paid by the ministry into the same Jointrust’s account.
Shuaibu averred that investigations revealed that there were no contracts between the ministry and the company to warrant such payment.
During cross-examination, defence counsel Mr Ferdinard Orbih (SAN), asked the witness about the author of the entries in Exhibit 8 and the witness replied that it was the ministry.
Orbih asked: “So, you agree that neither of the defendants had any input in making the entries in Exhibit 8?”
“No. they don’t,” the witness answered.
When further quizzed to confirm if there existed in the exhibit, words like Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the witness replied: “No.”
He explained that the words were abbreviated to read MEA and MFA.
The judge adjourned further proceedings till tomorrow.
In the charge, the defendants were alleged to have committed the offences between January and March 2015.
