Abuja, Nigeria – The trial of former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, continued at the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja, with the testimony of the sixth Prosecution Witness, Abubakar Umar. Umar, a bureau de change operator and CEO of Fanffash Resources, revealed how he received the sum of N3.1bn from Suswam in 2014, and converted it into $15.8 million in cash, which he then delivered to Suswam’s residence in the affluent Maitama neighborhood of Abuja.
Suswam and his then Commissioner of Finance, Omodachi Okolobia, are facing charges of money laundering relating to the proceeds of the sale of the state government’s shares held on its behalf by the Benue Investment and Property Company Limited. The shares were sold through Elixir Securities Limited and Elixir Investment Partners Limited.
Umar, who has been testifying on the matter since 2018, disclosed that the funds were transferred to him by Suswam in multiple tranches, with the first tranche amounting to N413m hitting his account on August 8, 2014. The remaining amount was transferred subsequently, totaling N3.1bn.
The witness confirmed that the transfers were made by a female proxy on behalf of Suswam. He then proceeded to convert the N3.1bn into dollars at an exchange rate of N197 to a dollar and delivered the cash to Suswam’s residence. He recalled a specific incident in 2014 when Suswam instructed him to bring the money to his house in Maitama. Umar obliged and informed the security personnel at the gate of his arrival before presenting the cash to Suswam, which they both confirmed to be the equivalent of the N413 million. Umar further testified that a total of N3 billion was transferred to his account in several transactions.
During the proceedings, Umar clarified that he was not arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for providing testimony in favor of the defendant and denied facing any threats from the Commission to testify against Suswam. However, he admitted to not having receipts or record books for the transactions, as he conducted the currency conversions based on his discretion and bought dollars from fellow retailers.
The trial is set to continue on October 4, 2024, before Justice Peter Lifu at the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja.