Testifying as prosecution witness (PW3), Bali
Ndam, a civil servant and legal officer in the Office of the National Security
Adviser, ONSA, told the court how the ONSA wrote a letter to the EFCC requesting
the Commission to investigate some payments made for contracts that were never
executed.
Ndam told the court that, a sum of N400m (four
hundred million naira) was transferred to Destra Investment Limited from the
office of the National Security Adviser.
Destra Investment Limited, the second defendant
in the matter, is a company owned by for the embattled spokesperson of the PDP.
He identified the documents marked “exhibits A to
C” presented as emanating from the ONSA as well as EFCC on the investigation of
the said payments.
The admissibility of the documents was contested
by the defence counsel, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, on the grounds that, a witness
can only testify to a document made by him and not by someone else.
Ikpeazu also argued that, the documents did not
have a certified true copy attached to it”.
“Besides, the Annexure to the documents are
electronically generated and should satisfy the provisions of Section 84 of the
Evidence Act”, he further argued.
Responding, counsel to EFCC, Sylvanus Tahir
stated that the documents have been misconstrued by the defence.
He submitted that, the letters cannot bear a
certified true copy because they bear the original signature of the maker and
not a photocopy.
“It is a public document which can be tendered
in court by the recipient and testified to by a public servant like the
witness. The electronically generated documents are only correspondence and not
a statement of account as provided for by Section 84 cited by the defence. The
documents are all relevant in the case. I urge your lordship to admit same”,
pleaded Tahir.
In a bench ruling, Justice Abang opined that
there were several departments of the government involved in the prosecution of
this matter which included not just the EFCC, but the ONSA and other government
organisations.
According to him, any officer in the department
involved in the prosecution, can appear to testify or tender any correspondence
issued by that organisation.
The judge further stated that, it is only a
public document for the payment of a prescribed fee that requires a certified
true copy. Therefore, if the letters are admissible in court, the annexure can
also be admissible. The document cannot be presented in piecemeal as they are
all relevant in the case.
“I hereby admit the evidence as exhibits “A -
C””, he ruled.
Under cross-examination, Ndam maintained that,
the sum of N400m (four hundred million naira) was transferred to Destra Investment
Limited from ONSA.
Justice Abang, thereafter adjourned the matter
to January 27, 2016 for continuation of trial.
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