By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
The first witness to testify, PW1, in the trial of Halima Buba and Innocent Mbagwu on Friday, July 18, 2025, informed Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja that he received $12 million with the participation of the defendants to be transferred into Aisha Achimugu's bank accounts.
Achimugu is the owner of Ocean Gate Energy Oil and Gas, with the account registered at Zenith Bank Plc.
The witness, who was presented as evidence by prosecution lawyer Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, mentioned that between March 10 and 24, 2025, he received $12 million from Aisha Achimugu in the form of a cash exchange at the SunTrust Bank branches in Abuja and Lagos. He also noted that although he holds both naira and dollar accounts with the bank, "none of the money passed through my account."
As a further testimony, he stated, "It was through social media that I learned about Aisha Achimugu's arrest, and I shared this information with the first defendant. I also remember that after meeting Aisha Achimugu, she provided me with a total of $1.8 million to convert into naira, and it was given in installments," he added.
During the cross-examination of the witness, defense attorney Johnson Usman, SAN, attempted to introduce certain documents as evidence, including the charges, out-of-court statements from witnesses, and those from the defendants at the EFCC, along with an identification certificate. However, this effort was unsuccessful because the prosecution argued that the defense needed to provide certified true copies of the exhibits it intended to present.
The prosecutor stated, “The documents from page 10 to 12 can only be verified by an EFCC official. Pages 13 to 31 consist of a letter from SunTrust Bank to the EFCC, transmitting account statements and application forms for Aisha Achimugu's account. Only the EFCC officers who have received these documents in their possession are authorized to properly certify them, so they cannot be submitted by the defense.”
Furthermore, Oyedepo stated, "My lord, pages 32 to 83 contain extra-judicial statements made by the defendant to the EFCC and other witnesses who will testify in this case, and it is the EFCC that can authenticate these documents. The extra-judicial statements from different witnesses can only be introduced if the conditions outlined in Section 232 of the Evidence Act are met. Pages 84 to 181 have been submitted as Exhibit P1. We submit that page 2 of the documents, along with pages 3 to 181, must substantially comply with Section 104 of the Evidence Act. There is no name of a certified officer, no designation, and no proof of payment of certification fees. I believe, my lord, that the party presenting these documents aims to turn your lordship into a forensic expert. I request my learned colleague to take the necessary action and urge your lordship to reject its admissibility," he said.
Judge Nwite postponed the case until October 16 and 17, 2025, to decide on the acceptance of evidence and to continue the cross-examination.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is taking legal action against both defendants, who serve as Managing Director/Chief Executive and Chief Compliance Officer of SunTrust Bank Ltd, respectively, facing six counts of money laundering involving $12 million.
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