A former Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Andrew Yakubu, who is facing tiral for alleged money laundering, says 98 per cent of the $9,772,800 and £74,000 cash recovered from a safe in his house in Kaduna State are gifts from well-wishers.
He stated that the other two per cent of the money is from the savings he made from the estacode he received while in office.
At the resumed trial, the ex-GMD of NNPC in his evidence as the first defense witness confirms that the money in a safe, which is referred to in counts three and four of the charge against him was taken from his property.
The former NNPC GMD is standing trial for alleged money laundering offences preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in a six-count charge on which he was arraigned on March 16, 2017.
The alleged offences include failure to make full disclosure of assets, receiving cash without going through a financial institution, which borders on money laundering and intent to avoid a lawful transaction under law, transported at various times to Kaduna, the aggregate sum of $9,772,800 and £74,000.
EFCC said the money was recovered by its agents from a safe allegedly hidden by the defendant in a house in a community Kaduna State.
In a ruling, in May 2019 Justice Mohammed partially upheld Mister Yakubu’s no-case submission by striking out two out of the six counts.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on the 24th of April 2020 partially upheld Mister Yakubu’s appeal by striking out another two counts and ordered him to return to the trial court to enter his defence in relation to the remaining two counts.
Both Yakubu and the EFCC have since appealed the decision at the Supreme Court.
