The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Thursday, rested its case in a pension fraud trial involving a former Head of Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye.
The anti-graft agency closed its case with the testimony of its 21st prosecution witness.
It will now be the turn of Mr Oronsaye and his co-defendants to open their defence to the 49 charges of money laundering involving N2 billion in public funds.
EFCC alleged in the charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja that the defendants siphoned the money through a biometric enrolment contract purportedly for the reform of the civil service pension system.
Mr Oronsanye faces the charges along with Osarenkhoe Afe, the managing director, Fredrick Hamilton Global Services Limited, a firm fingered by the anti-corruption agency in the scam.
In November last year, a former chairperson of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Abdulrasheed Maina, indicted in the extensive pension reform scam, was jailed eight years by the Federal High Court in Abuja for money laundering offences involving N2 billion.
The judgement convicting and jailing Mr Maina was tendered by the EFCC to strengthen its case against Mr Oronsaye and his co-defendants on Tuesday.
Last prosecution witness’ testimony
EFCC’s 21st and last prosecution witness, Umar Abba Tilde, a Compliance Officer with Zenith Bank Plc, while testifying on two withdrawals of millions of naira from a pension account, on Thursday, said Mr Oronsaye was at no time a signatory to the federal pension accounts.
He could also not ascertain whether Mr Oronsaye ever made an endorsement for withdrawal from the accounts.
On the outflows from one of the accounts, the banker told the trial judge, Inyang Ekwo, that two withdrawals – N161, 472, 00 million and N28, 375, 000 – were transferred from a pension account to a company on July 6, and July 7, 2010 respectively.
Led in evidence, by EFCC’s lawyer, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, Mr Tilde confirmed that mandates relating to the pension accounts were submitted by his bank to the EFCC in January 2020 based on request.
The witness further told the court that a letter of August 24, 2010, signed by Mr Oronsaye as then Head of Service of the Federation (HoS), instructed the bank that all e-payments must henceforth have final endorsement from the office.
However, under cross-examination by Mr Joe Agi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Oronsaye’s lead defence counsel, the witness said that the former HOS did not sign mandate for the two transfers made in 2010.
In addition, he informed the judge that Mr Oronsaye was not a signatory to the pension accounts adding thatShuiab Sani Teidi, Eunice Chide, Mohammed Kaltung Ahmed, Hassan Mohammed and Attah Danladi, were the signatories to the accounts.
Answering a question, the witness also admitted that he was in Kano branch of the bank when the two transfers were made and would not know if Mr Oronsaye ever made any endorsement.
Prosecution closes case
At the end of Mr Tilde’s testimony, the prosecuting counsel announced the closure of the EFCC’s case against the defendants. Twenty other prosecution witnesses had previously testified with several documents tendered by the anti-graft agency as exhibits.
Defence lawyer, Mr Agi, applied for an adjournment to open his client’s case. He indicated that he would be calling two witnesses.
Subsequently, the judge fixed March 9 and 10 for Mr Oronsaye to open his defence.
Backstory
In 2014, PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported how the Auditor-General of the Federation indicted Mr Oronsaye for the N123 billion allegedly diverted between 2009 and 2010 under his watch.
The 169-page report titled “Special Audit of the Accounts of the Civil Pensions,” uncovered humongous financial irregularities, outright stealing and kickbacks.
READ ALSO: Court grants Oronsaye permission to travel abroad
The report found that the pension payroll was never subjected to internal audit between June 2009 and December 2010; and that over N52 billion paid as monthly pension under Mr Oronsaye remained unaccounted for.
Similarly, another witness, Salami Adesoka, narrated before the court how in 2015, he was instructed by the then permanent secretary in the Office of the HoS to submit business account names.
Also, during Mr Maina’s trial, Rouqquaya Ibrahim, an EFCC investigator, had told the court how investigations revealed that Messrs Maina and Oronsaye allegedly used “five modules” to loot about N14 billion from pension accounts.
Ms Ibrahim had said Mr Oronsaye illegally operated 66 accounts in his office’s name without the approval of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
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