I handed over $15.8m to Suswam at his Abuja residence –Witness insists
On Wednesday, March 24, 2021, the fourth prosecution witness in the trial of Gabriel Suswam, a former governor of Benue State, testified before Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abubakar Umar, about how he handed over $15.8 million to the former governor at his Maitama residence in Abuja.
The witness, who is a Bureau De Change Operator and the CEO of Fanffash Resources, has been in the witness box since 2018.
He was found hostile at one point during the trial after recanting a comment he made to the EFCC while being led in evidence by Rotimi Jacobs SAN.
READ ALSO: APC will rule for more than 30 years, Buni boasts
He said in his EFCC statement that he delivered the money to the governor at his residence in Maitama, Abuja, but later changed his story in court, claiming that he delivered the money to the Government House in Benue State.
The PW4 reaffirmed his initial comment to the EFCC at Wednesday’s hearing. He revealed that he got phone calls from Suswam’s associates pressuring him to amend his testimony in court. He said, “I changed my statement due to the pressure I got from Suswam’s people.”
When asked what the ex-allies governors wanted him to do, he told the court that they wanted him to change where and to whom he gave the dollar equivalent of N3.1 billion.
“I don’t know Elixir,” Umar continued, “but sometime in August 2014, Suswam summoned me to his Maitama home and introduced me to a lady, asking me to give her my account details.”
“When I saw the money, Suswam said I should give him the Dollar equivalent, which I did, totaling $15.8 million at the N197 exchange rate. At Suswam’s residence in Abuja, I handed over the dollars in cash.”
Umar told the court that he never said he gave the money to Suswam in Kubwa, but rather in Maitama.
The witness said his company Fanffash Resources has no relationship with the Benue State Government, and that he also has no business or contract with Elixir Investment Partners Limited and does not know where they are.
The case was adjourned till May 25, 2021 for continuation of trial.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, re-arraigned the former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, alongside his then Commissioner of Finance, Omodachi Okolobia on November 2, 2020 before Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed of the Federal High Court Abuja for fraud.
Both were docked on amended 11-count charges, bordering on theft, criminal breach of trust, illegal award of contracts and money laundering to the tune of N3.1 billion.
