EFCC seeks court permission to tender Fani Kayode’s bank account as exhibit

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Tuesday asked Justice Rilwan Aikawa of a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos to admit as evidence the statement of account of a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.

Fani Kayode’s account is domiciled at Zenith Bank Plc.

Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of State for Finance, Mrs Esther Nenadi Usman, one, Danjuma Yusuf and a company, John Trust Dimensions Nigeria Limited is jointly standing trial over an alleged N4.6 billion fraud.

The defendants had all pleaded not guilty to the 17 count charge brought against them by EFCC.

Counsel to EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo during the examination-in-chief of a compliance officer with the bank, Teslim  Ajuwon, at the on-going trial through an application asked the court to tender the statement of account as an exhibit.

Ajuwon had in his testimony told the court that upon a request, the former minister’s statement of account at Zenith Bank Plc was forwarded to the anti-graft agency.

“When the request was received, it was sent to the Information Technology Department and it will be printed in the presence of a compliance officer.

“The printed statement was then compared with entries in the bank’s computer system. Afterwards, a certificate of identification was produced and signed accordingly,”Ajuwon said.

EFCC’s lawyer, Oyedepo, then sought the admittance of the accused person’s statement of the account number, 1004735721, in the name of Femi Fani-Kayode, which contained entries from January 22, 2015, to July 31, 2015, as an exhibit by the court.

However, in his objection to the admissibility of the document, Fani-Kayode’s lawyer, Norrison Quakers (SAN), said it did not comply with the provisions of Section 89 (H) and 90 (E) (1-IV) of the Evidence Act.

Quakers further argued that the document cannot be said to have emanated from the bank because none of its officers had certified it. He added that the EFCC is in no position to do the verification of the document.

After listening to the submissions of parties in the matter, Justice Aikawa adjourned to December 5 for ruling on the document’s admissibility and continuation of trial.