Nicole Ararume, a witness testifying against Olisa Metuh, spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Monday claimed that he gave her a cash amount of $2m for transfer into his company’s account.
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However, under cross examination by defence counsel Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), who led other SANs including Ifedayo Adedipe, Chris Uche and Emeka Etiaba, the witness admitted that the relationship the company had with Metuh was a “fiduciary relationship” and private.
The counsel also told the court they have filed an application asking for a variation of the bail conditions which they considered stringent to enable the defendant get bail to avail them with some vital information and documents.
He urged the court to adjourn the proceedings as the inability of his client to meet the bail conditions had adverse effect on his preparation for the defense.
Ararume, who described his position at ARM as Wealth Manager, said she collected the cash from Metuh on December 2, 2014, with an instruction to invest the money on behalf of the PDP spokesperson’s company, Destra Investments Limited.
She said the money was eventually changed to its Naira equivalent through two Bureaux de Change, BDC, operators.
Answering questions during cross-examination, Ararume maintained that, the transaction was conducted on trust and that she had no idea of how long it took the defendant to gather the said sum.
Iyenome Sie, a Bureau De Change (BDC) operator, told a Federal High Court in Abuja that sometime in December 2014 he exchanged $500, 000 to N92 million for Metuh in two tranches after he was contacted by Ms Ararume.
“I also invited one Mr. Kabiru Mohammed and gave him $1m to transfer the Naira equivalent in favour of Destra Investment Limited”. Later on the same day, December 2, 2014, Messrs Kabir and Sie Iyenome confirmed the receipt.
The prosecution also called Iyenome as its second prosecution witness, who also narrated how he changed the $1m to its naira equivalent and paid it to ARM.
The counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Tahir Sylvanus, objected to the application, saying: “It has been known to the defence that trial will commence today, as such, it should have adequately prepared for the case”.
Trial has been adjourned till tomorrow for the prosecution to call more witnesses.
Again Mr Ikpeazu argued that he could not cross examine a prosecution witness based on its document but the defence would rely on its own generated document to do so. I asked her who is selling and she told me that it was her client at ARM. We then agreed on a rate, N183 per dollar.
Under re-examination by the prosecutor, Iyenome confirmed that there was a limit imposed by law as to how much cash a bureau de change operator could transact with.
Metuh was first arraigned before Justice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court on a 7-count charge of corruption and money laundering on 15 January.
“After due diligence, I gave them $500,000 each to sell”.
But Justice Abang upheld the prosecution’s objection to the request for an adjournment, which was basically anchored on the same grounds earlier canvassed by the defence.
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The court had on January 19, granted Metuh bail to the tune of N400m and directed him to produce two sureties who must deposit N200m each.
