At the resumed hearing of the money laundering case that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, instituted against a former Anambra State governor, Willy Obiano, the prosecution yesterday produced two more witnesses to testify before the Federal High Court Abuja.
Obiano, who piloted the affairs of Anambra State from March 2014 to March 2022, is facing a nine-count charge that the anti-graft agency preferred against him.
The EFCC had among other things, alleged that the erstwhile governor misappropriated over N4 billion from the treasury of the state.
The commission presented Mr Ugochukwu Otibelu a former staff of a first generation bank, Awka Branch in Anambra State, as the third Prosecution Witness, PW-3.
Otibelu told the court that he was a Relationship Officer of the Public Sector Department of the bank.
He identified ex-Governor Obiano as someone he had personally delivered cash to at the government house during his tenure as governor.
He said sometime in 2021, the EFCC had invited him for interrogation as part of their investigation into the activities of the former governor.
The prosecution counsel, Mr Sylvanus Tahir (SAN), led him through a document detailing transactions involving the accounts of six different companies linked to the state’s Security Vote which were tendered and admitted in evidence by the court as Exhibit PW-3 (A1- A215).
He said the principal signatories to the Security Vote accounts were Willy Nwokoye, the Principal Secretary to the Governor and Theophilus Nweze, the Government House Accountant.
Otibelu admitted to managing the accounts through which the Security Votes passed and this includes “deposits to and withdrawals from the account by the signitaries,” adding that in the course of his responsibilities he has had cause to, upon instruction, made payments to designated persons or delivered directly to the governor in naira and US dollars.
On cross examination by the defence lawyer, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, Otibelu agreed that whenever he made visits to the governor with such money there were usually heavy presence of top officials of security agencies which suggested that a state security meeting was in progress.
The commission also called Hayatu Hadejia, a Bureau De Change operator as 4th Prosecution Witness, PW-4.
Hadejia told the court that he is a businessman, who runs Bureau De Change operations and was invited by the EFCC as part of its investigations into the financial activities of the government of ex-governor Obiano.
Hadejia said in the course of the investigation he was asked questions about if he has ever conducted any business with the government of Anambra but he answered in the negative.
On cross examination by the lawyer for the defence, Ikeazu, Hadejia his BDC is business Company and carried out the transaction with Tanko as a purely business issue and that he had never met ex-governor Obiano.
The commission had on Monday invited two witnesses Tochukwu Nnadi, a Banker as 1st Prosecution Witness, PW-1 and an Onitsha-based businesswoman, Chinwe Egbunam,(whose bank account was in question) as 2nd Prosecution Witness, PW-2 as they articulate their money laundering case against ex-Governor Willy Obiano of Anambra State.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, adjourned for further hearing in the matter till October 7,8,9 and 10.
