I prepared Deeds of Assignment for properties in VI, lawyer says in Fayose’s case

A Seventh Prosecution Witness, Mr. Kennedy Osunwa, on Wednesday
told a Federal High Court in Lagos that he was engaged to prepare a
Deed of Assignment with respect to a property lying at 100, Tiamiyu
Savage, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The witness, who is a legal practitioner, gave the evidence at
the resumed trial of immediate past governor of Ekiti State,
Ayodele Fayose, who is standing trial on allegations bordering on
fraud.

Fayose was arraigned on 11 counts by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission on October 22, 2018 alongside a company, Spotless
Investment Ltd.

He had pleaded not guilty to the charges and the court had
granted him bail in the sum of N50m with one surety in like
sum.

EFCC had opened the case for prosecution on November 19, 2018
and had called four witnesses.

On January 21, 2019, the prosecution called its fifth witness,
Senator Obanikoro, a former Minister of State for Defence.

At the last adjourned date on Tuesday, March 19, 2019, both the
fifth Prosecution Witness, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, and the sixth
witness, Mr. Omotayo Falae, had both concluded their evidences
before the court.

On Wednesday, Osunwa appeared in court as seventh witness for
the EFCC.

The Prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), led him in evidence and
asked him to tell the court what he knows about the case.

Osunwa narrated: “Sometime in 2014/2015, a company that I had
retainership with as a tenant solicitor (Still Earth Ltd), called
me and said they had acquired some properties lying at 100, Tiamiyu
Savage, Victoria Island, and that they had concluded arrangement to
sell some because they had a buyer and the particulars of the buyer
were given to me to prepare a Deed of Assignment.

“I was told that one Abiodun Agbele, with a company, J. J
Technical, are buying the property.”

The witness said that the necessary particulars as well as the
consideration for the property which he was to insert in the
agreement were supplied to him and he prepared the Deed.

He said that at completion, he informed the officers of the
company that the Deed was ready for execution and they instructed
him to bring the agreement to the company as the said Agbele would
be coming to take same.

The witness told the court that the agreement was sent as
requested and after some days, he was called by the officers of the
company that same had been executed and he was shown a copy of the
Deed that was acknowledged by Agbele’s lawyer, one Mr. Kolade.

He said that in 2016, he was invited by the EFCC to come with
all the officers of his company as well as with all the Deeds of
Assignment he prepared with respect to the property at Victoria
Island.

The witness said that after he received the invite, he
immediately travelled to Abuja with all the requirements, adding
that he submitted all document to the Commission.

Laying a foundation for tendering of the document, the
prosecutor asked the witness, “If you see the document, will you
recognise it?” and the witness replied, “Yes”

The document was tendered without objections from defence, it
was admitted by the court and marked exhibit M1-M5.

Jacobs asked the witness to look at the exhibits and tell the
court how much he was asked to put as consideration for the
property.

The witness replied that for exhibit M2, he was asked to put the
sum of $1.1m as consideration; for exhibit M3 he was asked to put
$1.17m; for exhibit M4, he was asked to put N40m and for exhibit M5
also same cost of N40m.

According to the witness, the price stated in the agreement was
the price he was asked to put down by the Assignee.

Under cross examination by defence counsel, Mr. Olalekan Ojo,
(SAN), the witness said that when invited by the EFCC, he was
directed to tell them what he knew about the Deed.

Ojo: “Did you tell them any lie? ” and the witness replied, “To
the best of my knowledge, No.”

Ojo then suggested to the witness, “So, it is possible that you
unintentionally lied in your statement?” and the witness replied,
“I cannot say that.”

When asked if, at any point after making his statement, he
returned to the EFCC to say he forgot to put in any fact, the
witness replied, “I can’t remember.”

Ojo: “Are you telling this court that you cannot remember
whether you went to the EFCC to say ‘I forgot to say this or
that’?” and the witness replied, ‘I remember I made a statement to
the EFCC but I cannot remember whether I made additional
statement.”

Ojo then asked the witness if the parties had informed him that
the price he was putting down as the consideration for the property
was false, and the witness replied ‘No.’

The witness added that he only got to know about it at the
EFCC.

Ojo again asked the witness if, after learning about the
falsehood, he had made any additional statement to the EFCC stating
that fact, and the witness replied, “I did not.”

Ojo: “My lord, with due respect, that will be all for this
witness.”

Continuation of trial will resume on April 15.

According to the charge, on June 17, 2014, Fayose and one Agbele
were said to have taken possession of the sum of N1.2bn for
purposes of funding his gubernatorial election campaign in Ekiti
State, which sum they reasonably ought to have known formed part of
crime proceeds.

Fayose was alleged to have received a cash payment of the sum of
$5m (about N1.8bn) from the then Minister of State for Defence,
Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, without going through any financial
institution and which sum exceeded the amount allowed by law.

He was also alleged to have retained the sum of N300m in his
bank account and taken control of the aggregate sums of about N622m
which sum he ought to have known formed part of crime proceeds.

Fayose was alleged to have procured De Privateer Ltd and Still
Earth Ltd, to retain the aggregate sums of N851m which they
reasonably ought to have known formed part of crime proceeds.

Besides, the defendant was alleged to have used the aggregate
sums of about N1.6bn to acquire properties in Lagos and Abuja,
which sums he reasonably ought to have known formed part of crime
proceeds.

The accused was also alleged to have used the sum of N200m to
acquire a property in Abuja in the name of his elder sister, Moji
Oladeji, which sum he ought to know also forms crime proceeds.

The offences contravenes the provisions of sections 15(1), 15
(2), 15 (3), 16(2)(b), 16 (d), and 18 (c) of the Money Laundering
Prohibition Act 2011.

(NAN)

FG Hinges on Importance of OGP for National
prosperity

The Honorable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of
Justice (HAGF) Abubakar Malami (SAN) has said that the fight
against corruption using the Open Government Partnership (OGP)
platform is one of the efforts that the government is making to
enthrone accountability and national prosperity.
Malami made this statement at the 6th Open Government Partnership
(OGP) National Steering Committee Meeting in Abuja on Friday 15
March. 2019.
‘’It is a journey that will take them from transparency and
openness to the National prosperity. But the road may be bumpy and
rough, we may sometimes stumble and make mistakes but we will get
to our destination of shared prosperity if we do not relent’’.
Representing the HAGF, Director Budget and National Planning /
Incoming Co-chair OGP Nigeria Dr. Ann Nzegwu explained that their
membership of OGP continues to affirm government effort to deepen
institutional reform and strengthen the measures of corruption.
“Taking a look at the agenda of this meeting, every item is
important as Nigeria is about to end this first circle with the
government, the review of the second circle is in progress and
Nigeria will meet the stipulated time for the submission of the new
plan to the international OGP Secretariat”.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed in his
opening remarks notified the National Steering Committee(NSC)
members, of Government plan to refocus on the e- Government agenda
for Nigeria through a holistic and citizen-centric development of
ICT in Governance rather than the erstwhile individualistic
approach.
The Minister further stressed the need for a continuous
collaboration between the Ministry and the OGP National Secretary
in the actualization of the plan.
He urged members of the NSC to pay a visit to the e-Government
facility, adding that the OGP would be sustained even if there
would be change in Government by May 29, 2019.
He emphasized that the International body and more states have
keyed in and it has added to the sustainability of the OGP.
Executive Director, Media Rights Agenda and Co-Chair of the NSC
Edetaen Ojo in his remarks explained that the Secretariat of the
OGP Nigeria is undergoing a re-structuring to enable it respond
more effectively and efficiently to the current needs of OGP
Nigeria.
Ojo further explained that the initiative is growing and many
states are coming on board with a lot of activities being planned
to engage Governance at the sub-national level.
According to him, ‘’the OGP is the symbol of Governance reforms,
based on the principles of transparency, accountability and citizen
participation. The secretariat is the engine room of this
initiative and must itself embody and reflect these principles, it
certainly must be able to meet the information needs of its diverse
stakeholders and be responsive to their various interest’’.
He also explained that the Secretariat in its present state simply
cannot cope with the demands of this new reality. He stressed that
it lacks the staff capacity and many of its procedures and
mechanisms are still being developed, is an aspect of their
operations in urgent need of attention.
The Executive Director said that the National Steering Committee
would also be experiencing a transition in the course of the year;
certainly new co-chairs would take over the affairs of OGP Nigeria
sometime around June 2019.
He added that how the process is managed can also have an impact on
the fortunes of the OGP in Nigeria.
In her remarks, the representative of the State Actors Co-Chair,
Dr. Anne Nzegwu noted that Nigeria has experienced significant
challenges and laudable changes since the implementation of the
first circle on the National Action Plan (NAP).
Nzegwu urged everyone to continue in their efforts to uphold the
integrity of the Nation.

Ogochukwu Igboamalu
For; Deputy Director
Fed. Min. of Justice