Contractors during Bankole?s tenure couldn?t be located ? Witness

Companies awarded contracts by the House of Representatives for the supply of office equipments and electronics during the tenure former Speaker Dimeji Bankole could not be located for verification, a court heard yesterday.

Prosecution witness, ASP Ibrahim Ahmed, attached to the investigations unit of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), told the Federal High Court in Abuja that all efforts to trace the companies based on their addresses obtained from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC proved futile.

He said even when letters of invitation were written to the Managing Directors of the companies and given to the EFCC dispatch unit, the letters were returned about three weeks later indicating that the addresses could not be traced.

Prosecuting Counsel Festus Keyamo sought to tender Bankole?s statement before the court, but the former Speaker?s lawyer Olawale Akoni (SAN) objected on the ground that the statement was a duplicate copy.

Keyamo, who told the court that the original was tendered before another court in a sister case refrained from tendering the statement.

He asked for an adjournment to enable him furnish the court with certified documents already mentioned by prosecution witness at the next adjourned date. Justice Donatus Okoro adjourned the case till April 3 for continuation.

Bankole is standing trial on a 16- count charge of contract fraud proffered against him by the EFCC.

Source: http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=155429:contractors-during-bankoles-tenure-couldnt-be-located-witness-&catid=2:lead-stories&Itemid=8

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