Rep Azubuogu Absolved By EFCC Witness

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Nnamdi Felix / Abuja

A witness called by Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, at the resumed trial of suspended Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market, Herman Hembe and His Deputy Azubuogu, on Wednesday told an Abuja High Court Azubuogu returned his air tickets and estacodes to the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC when he could not make the trip to Dominican Republic for a scheduled conference.

Hembe and Azubuogu are being prosecuted by the EFCC for allegedly misappropriating the sum of $4,095 (Four thousand, Ninety Five Dollars) an equivalent of N600,000, being estacodes given to them by the Securities and Exchange Commission to travel to Dominican Republic for a conference.

The witness, Mr. Udoh Anietan, who is an operative of the anti graft agency while being led in evidence by EFCC’s lawyer, Mr. Chile Okoroma, told the court that the travelling ticket and estacode meant for the Azubuogu to travel for the conference which was between the 16th and 19th October 2011 was given to him on the night of the 19th through the clerk of the committee when the conference had ended.

On cross examination by Azubuogu’s lawyer, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, a senior advocate of Nigeria, Udoh admitted that from their investigations, that Azubuogu did not have any contact whatsoever with the Securities and Exchange Commission as it related to the said conference.

He also admitted that the complaint against the legislators arose from the public hearing of March 15th 2012 adding that in the course of their investigation, that the anti graft agency retrieved documents from SEC which showed that Azubuogu was also scheduled for the same conference they were supposed to attend between the 16th and 19th October 2011.

“Our investigation showed that the estacode meant for Azubuogu was delivered to Femi Ogunsanya the Clerk of the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market on October 19th, 2011 the day the conference was supposed to end. I was not present when Ogunsanya gave the money to Azubuogu, but he admitted to receiving the money”.

The witness further stated that investigators did not come across any document from SEC requesting that the accused persons return the estacodes and also denied knowledge of any SEC regulation specifying a time frame within which any unused estacode must be returned.

He further admitted that in the cause of their investigation that Azubuogu claimed that he returned his ticket and the estacodes to SEC but that SEC returned to him an envelope through one Mr. Ogunsaya of the Clerk of the Senate’s office, containing the the sum of $4,095.

Further proceeding in the matter was adjourned by the presiding judge, Justice Kekemeke to 27th February.