news
Akingbola Opposes EFCC’s Attempt To Tender Evidence Against Him
Akingbola, Managing Director of the defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc, on Friday opposed the move by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to tender statements of accounts from Access Bank.
The accounts allegedly linked Akingbola to the alleged fraud.
Through his lawyer, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), the embattled former MD said the statements could not be tendered because they were freshly sourced.
This, according to the senior advocate, contravenes proceedings for criminal trials that mandate all investigations in a criminal case to be concluded before the case is filed in a court of competent jurisdiction.
The 10-year-old trial witnessed a heated argument between the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), and the defence team.
The defence team also contended that the anti-graft agency could not substitute a witness in the case.
Akingbola’s 10-year-old trial reopened last month, after it had journeyed all the way to the Supreme Court and back.
He was re-arraigned on March 13, 2019 on further amended 22 counts, wherein he was accused of using N179bn belonging to the defunct Intercontinental Bank for “fictitious transactions.”
Among other allegations, the EFCC also claimed that Akingbola granted loans to a number of companies without adequate securities.
But the ex-bank chief pleaded not guilty.
At Friday’s proceedings before Justice Mojisola Olatoregun, the prosecution called its third witness, Uyoyou Ewhe, an Access Bank official, and sought to tender through him the statements of certain accounts opened in Access Bank.
Jacobs told the court that he settled for Ewhe to tender the documents “because the intended witness who was to tender the documents, we were told, has left the bank and is no longer in the country.”
But the lead defence counsel, Olanipekun, opposed him, contending that the documents were only freshly sourced.
“The prosecution was sourcing for evidence two days ago in a trial that started 10 years ago,” Olanipekun said.
Citing the case of Enahoro and the Queen of 1965, Olanipekun further contended that the prosecution could not substitute a witness.
“You cannot substitute a witness in a criminal proceeding; substituting a witness amounts to sourcing for evidence contrary to the decision of the Supreme Court in the celebrated case of Enahoro against the Queen of 1965.
“If you don’t have your witnesses, you don’t have your witnesses; you cannot substitute witnesses,” he said.
He also urged the judge not to admit the documents on the basis that they emanated from Access Bank, which he said was an interested party in Akingbola’s trial.
“Section 83 of the Evidence Act prohibits admissibility of this type of document. We have addressed Your Lordship on the interest of Access Bank in this matter, which is undisguised.
“This witness, the maker of this document, is an official of Access Bank. Put succinctly, this document is an Access Bank document. And I daresay, the documents were made as a result of evidence already given, may be to patch up the evidence; it is a natural consequence which the court is called upon to assume.”
But countering Olanipekun, Jacobs said, “The question of substituting a witness does not arise, and even if it arose, the prosecution is not limited to the list of witnesses in the proof of evidence originally filed.”
He said in the case of Enahoro, which Olanipekun cited, “the Supreme Court did not decided that witnesses cannot be changed.”
As to the argument that the documents sought to be tendered were freshly made, Jacobs said by virtue of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, the prosecution was at liberty to file additional evidence any time before judgment.
He added that the documents were old statement of accounts of 1990.
“It is just the letter covering the documents and the certificate showing compliance that are new. It is new bottle with the old wine,” Jacobs said, stressing that the documents were relevant to the case.
After hearing both sides, Justice Olatoregun adjourned till April 18 for ruling.
news
2027: Tinubu Dares Obi, Atiku to Showcase Their Achievements in Office, Accuses Them of Abandoning Their Responsibilities
I’m
President Bola Tinubu has criticised former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar over their political affiliations, questioning their leadership credentials ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Tinubu made the remarks on Friday during his visit to Akwa Ibom State, where he inaugurated projects executed by Governor Umo Eno’s administration and addressed supporters at a political gathering.
Although he did not mention either politician by name, he appeared to refer to Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, and Atiku, who joined the African Democratic Congress after leaving the Peoples Democratic Party.
Referring to Obi’s tenure as Anambra governor, Tinubu accused him of failing to tackle erosion in the state, contrasting it with his own claim of confronting the Atlantic Ocean during his administration as Lagos governor.
“One, who said he is in one party they call NDC, who is running for president. He ran away from erosion. In Anambra State, he could not confront erosion.
“I, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I confronted the Atlantic Ocean. I claim it for you. Umo Eno confronted the erosion in Akwa Ibom and is working for, he is stable,” the President said.
Tinubu also questioned the political loyalty of a former PDP member who moved to another party, in an apparent reference to Atiku’s defection to the ADC.
“If a man that was, once upon a time, was a baby of PDP, became a father of PDP. And because of a little inconvenience, he ran away from that party. And formed a dangerous ADC in another party. Is that a leadership trait? Is that a leadership character? And he wants you to vote for him?” he said.
Obi governed Anambra State between 2006 and 2014, while Atiku served as Nigeria’s Vice-President from 1999 to 2007 under the PDP.
Atiku contested the 2023 presidential election on the PDP platform, finishing second behind Tinubu, while Obi, who contested under the Labour Party, came third.
Obi left the Labour Party for the NDC in May 2026, while Atiku joined the ADC as part of opposition efforts ahead of the 2027 election.
Tinubu’s reference to Anambra’s erosion problem recalls his 2023 presidential campaign promise to tackle the menace in the state.
During a campaign rally in Awka in February 2023, the then APC presidential candidate promised to address gully erosion in Anambra, saying he would handle it in the same way he claimed to have tackled the Atlantic Ocean surge in Lagos.
“I have come here to promise you development. We will industrialise Nigeria and Anambra State. You know me, I am the city boy of Lagos; I caged the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos; the way I handled the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos, I will handle the erosion menace in Anambra State,” he said at the time.
President Bola Tinubu has approved the long-awaited Ibom Deep Seaport project in Akwa Ibom State.
Tinubu announced the approval on Friday while responding to a request by Governor Umo Eno during a reception and rally held in his honour at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo.
The President, who was in the state to inaugurate projects executed by the Eno administration, said the development must promote inclusive growth, create economic value and bring progress to the people.
“Now, development must be even inclusive and reasonable, must bring progress and create economic value. I heard from my friend, my governor, my pastor, on behalf of the people and leadership of Akwa Ibom, request for Ibom’s deep-sea port,” Tinubu said.
After repeating the request, the President asked the crowd, “Will you vote?”
He subsequently declared, “Okay, It’s approved.”
The approval followed a pledge by Eno that Akwa Ibom would deliver two million votes for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 if the Federal Government delivered the seaport.
“Give us Ibom Deep Seaport, we will deliver two million votes. This deep seaport is capable of unlocking the economy of the state, the South-South region and Nigeria at large,” the governor said.
Eno described the seaport as the most important economic demand of the people of Akwa Ibom, saying it would transform the state’s maritime, industrial and employment landscape.
He said the people of the state had remained loyal to Tinubu since 2023 and were asking him to fulfil his promise to build the facility.
Tinubu had, during his 2023 presidential campaign rally at the same stadium, promised to build the deep seaport, citing the Lekki Deep Seaport, developed during his tenure as Lagos State governor, as an example of what he hoped to achieve in Akwa Ibom.
Eno said the project, conceived during the administration of former Governor Victor Attah as the Ibaka Deep Seaport and Industrial City, had remained unrealised for decades despite featuring in successive presidential campaigns.
“This seaport would serve as a major transhipment hub. It will create thousands of jobs for our people. It will open Akwa Ibom to international trade and investment,” he said.
The governor also said Akwa Ibom had aligned with the Federal Government by joining the All Progressives Congress to attract greater federal presence and development.
He assured Tinubu that the state would mobilise support for his re-election in 2027, saying the seaport would be a major dividend of his administration.
*Says ADC’s leadership that produced him, other candidates illegal
A Federal High Court in Abuja has nullified the process that led to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s emergence as the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate for next year’s presidential election. FollowPolitics
In a judgment on Thursday, Justice Peter Lifu also voided the emergence of former Senate President David Mark, ex-Governor of Osun State Rauf Aregbesola, and others as ADC national officers.
Justice Lifu also voided the nominations of all ADC candidates for the 2027 general elections, holding that they emerged from the ADC’s illegal and unlawful leadership.
The judgment was delivered in a suit brought by an aggrieved ADC Deputy National Chairman, Nafiu Bala Gombe.
The judge upheld Gombe’s contention that David Mark and Rauf Aregbesola emerged as party leaders through an unlawful and illegal process.
Justice Lifu set aside all actions taken by the Mark-led leadership in the name of ADC, holding that they were unlawful.
Details shortly…
-
news6 years agoUPDATE: #ENDSARS: CCTV footage of Lekki shootings intact – Says Sanwo – Olu
-
lifestyle6 years agoFormer Miss World: Mixed reactions trail Agbani Darego’s looks
-
news8 years ago
-
health6 years agoChairman Agege LG, Ganiyu Egunjobi Receives Covid-19 Vaccines
-
lifestyle5 years agoObateru: Celebrating a Quintessential PR Man at 60
-
news1 year agoBREAKING: Tinubu swears in new NNPCL Board
-
health6 years agoUPDATE : Nigeria Records 790 new cases of COVID-19
-
society3 years agoBisbam CEO, Abisola Bamidele, Bags Owu Chieftaincy Title