The First Prosecution Witness, PW1 in the trial of former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki on Tuesday, narrated before Justice C. Agbaza of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT High Court, Maitama, Abuja, how funds, running into multi-million naira were funneled from the Operations Account of the Office of the National Security Adviser ONSA into the account of private companies linked to the defendants.
Dasuki, the first defendant, is facing prosecution alongside a former General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Aminu Baba-Kusa, and two companies, Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited on an amended 32-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and money laundering to the tune of N33.2 billion.
Led by prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, the witness, an investigator with the EFCC, in the continuation of his evidence-in-chief disclosed that letters were written by the EFCC to Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, requesting the registration status of the following companies: Acacia Holdings Limited (third defendant), Aravcaria Farms, Reliance Referral Hospital Limited RRH, Pinmax Security and Gas and others that featured in the course of the investigation and that the responses were received and analysed.
He further told the court that the purpose of the enquiry in the CAC was to determine the identities of directors of the companies and that the response revealed that Acacia Holdings Limited is owned by the second defendant and that Aravcaria Farms Ltd and Pinmax Security and Gas are sister companies to Acacia Holdings Limited.
The response further revealed that the wife of the second defendant is a major shareholder in the company, having 1,800,000.00 (one million eight hundred thousand) shares. The responses which were tendered as exhibit E1 to E4.
The witness also told the court that account statements and account opening packages of the Operations Account of the Office of the National Security Adviser ONSA with account number 101419287 were requested for and received from Zenith Bank Plc.
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Payment mandates were also received on the same account, directing the bank to debit the ONSA Operations Account to the tune of N650, 750,000 and credit it to Acacia Holdings Limited’s United Bank for Africa and Eco Bank accounts and RRH’s First Bank of Nigeria account respectively.
He further disclosed that the payment mandate instruction was duly signed by the first defendant, Dasuki.
He also revealed that when the response was received from UBA on Acacia Holdings Limited account number 1017394650, the analysis revealed that apart from the N600 million earlier received, there was also another transfer of N200 million from the ONSA account on October 9, 2014.
The account statement, he said, also uncovered that various individuals and companies were credited from Acacia Holdings Limited, including a cheque withdrawal of N3million by one Atahiru Maccido, who is a staff and financial controller of Acacia Holdings Limited on October 14, 2014.
Also, on October 15, 2014, that N1million was transferred to Aravcaria Farm Limited, a company owned by the second defendant and N2 million in two separate transactions of N1million each was debited and used to pay the director’s loan.
The court adjourned the matter till January 13, 14, and 15, 2026 for continuation of trial.
