A Lagos State High Court, sitting in Ikeja, on Wednesday has refused to admit the evidence produced in court by the witnesses of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the ongoing fraud trial leveled against the former Managing Director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, Ahmed Kuru.
The EFCC had accused the defendants of defrauding Arik Air of N76 bn and $31.5 million. Aside from Kuru, four others have been dragged before Justice Mojisola Dada for the same allegation. They include Kamilu Omokide, a former receiver manager of Arik Air Ltd; Captain Roy Ilegbodu, the airline’s CEO; Union Bank Ltd; and Super Bravo Ltd.
They are facing six charges related to theft, abuse of office, and stealing by dishonestly taking the property of another, which were brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. All defendants had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail in the sum of N20 million each, with one surety of like sum.
Appearing before the court on Wednesday, a prosecuting witness, Austen Obigwe, during a cross-examination attempted to present an exhibit to the court but the lawyers to the defendants established that the document was unsigned, lacked authors, undated, and without an original copy.
Obigwe, a former staff of Union Bank, in his presentation at the court, had said that the bank stood in as a guarantor to Arik Air to procure five aircraft – three Boeing 737-800 and two Airbus 340-500 aircraft.
The witness, who said he joined Union Bank in February 2006 and left in August 2009, said that the aircraft were financed by the Export Credit agencies. He further stated that the three B737-800 were used for local operations, while the widebody aircraft were deployed to New York in the United States and London in the United Kingdom.
He described the aircraft as a huge success in the operations of the airline. He claimed that at the time he left the bank in 2009, the loans secured by Arik Air were still being serviced regularly but cannot say what happened after he left except for the information he gathered from here and there.
Barr. Olalekan Ojo, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), counsel to the defendants, established that the documents presented in the court by the Obigwe were not signed and undated. Ojo queried the genuineness of the document and asked him to establish where the document was sourced from.
He expressed that what the law expected to be certified were original copies of documents.
He also established that the prosecuting witness had left Union Bank in 2009 and so was not qualified to present the document, having left the bank before AMCON took over the management of the airline in March 2017.
But, the prosecuting lawyer, Dr. Wahab Shittu (SAN), said that the document was relevant to the case at hand irrespective of its status. He said: “Even if the document was stolen, in as much as it is relevant to the case, my lord, it is admissible in the law court.”
In her delivery, Justice Mojiisola Dada threw out the evidence for lack of proper identification. Dada therefore adjourned the case to Monday, May 19, 2025, and 28 for the continuation of the hearing.
