THE prosecution in the trial of former Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Andrew Yakubu closed its case yesterday after calling seven witnesses.
Yakubu is being tried before a Federal High Court in Abuja on a six-count charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), he is charged with failure to declare assets and money laundering.
Prosecuting lawyer Ben Ikani announced the closure of the prosecution’s case yesterday at the conclusion of the testimony of the seventh witness called by the state, Suleiman Mohammed, an official of the EFCC.
In his testimony, Mohamed explained how a team of EFCC’s investigators, which he was a member, recovered the money, estimated at N3 billion, which comprised of $9.7 million and £74,000.
The witness said the money was hidden in fireproof safe, allegedly belonging to Yakubu. The huge safe has since been tendered in evidence in the proceedings.
Led in evidence by Ikani, the witness said the recovery process and the counting of the money were recorded and saved in a 32-gigabyte memory card and in another two mini disks, which were admitted as exhibits by the court yesterday.
At the conclusion of Mohammed’s testimony, Justice Ahmed Mohammed adjourned till December 5, for the defendant to open his case.
EFCC had on February 3, 2017 raided Yakubu’s house located on Chikun Road, Sabon Tasha area of Kaduna South Local Government Area of Kaduna State, from where it claimed to have recovered $9,772, 800 USD and £74,000.00.
