Lukman Olabiyi

Two prosecution witness, Emojevwe Eboh and and Bassey Omamuriene, in the ongoing trial of former Abia State Governor Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, and two others, over alleged fraud, yesterday said they knew nothing about the case but only came to court to tender exhibits against the defendants.

Eboh and Omamuriene were the 14th and 15th witnesses to be called by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to testify against Kalu, Udeh Jones Udeogu and Slok Nigeria Limited, respectively.

But under cross examination of the witnesses by counsel to the defendants, the prosecution witnesses said that they knew nothing about the charges preferred against the defendants.

Eboh, a compliance officer with First City Monument Bank (FCMB), while being cross-examined by Kalu’s counsel, Goddy Uche, before Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court Lagos on the exhibit he tendered in the trial, said he never worked with First Inland Bank and had no input on all the transactions that occurred in the account of Abia State Government House with the bank at the time.

The other defendants counsels Joseph Ochu and Kingly Nwofo, also cross-examined Uche, who again insisted that he knew nothing about the charges, and that he had come simply to tender exhibit in court.

In his testimony, prosecutoin witness Omamuriene, a staff of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), tendered the statement of account of Abia State Government House at the defunct Hallmark Bank before the court.

The document was later admitted as an exhibit after EFCC lawyer Rotimi Jacobs had urged the court to do so.

In his examination-in-chief, the witness, who claimed to be a system manager at the Claims Resolution Department of the NDIC, gave a narration of the transactions carried out on the account.

Micheal Udoh and Udeh Jones Udeogu, both former cashier and Director of Finance at the Abia State Government House, respectively, featured prominently as individuals who made withdrawals on the account.

Under cross-examination by Kalu’s lawyer, the witness said the NDIC as a liquidator did not inherit the assets and liabilities of Hallmark Bank.

According to him, it is the duty of the NDIC to ensure that no bank customer lost his or her deposit in the event that a bank is out of business.

“NDIC is the liquidator in charge for banks whose licenses were revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),” he said.

He also said he was not aware that, by their status, Udoh and Udeogu were duty bound to make withdrawals from the Government House account.

He added that he was not aware that the security votes of the Governor, as well as salaries of Government House workers, were also domiciled in the account.

Further hearings on the matter continues today.