During the bribery trial of Mr. Akintoye Akindele, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of Duport Midstream Company Limited, Justice Modupe Osho-Adebiyi of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) admitted three documents as exhibits on Wednesday.
These documents, comprising a petition to the Inspector General of Police by Summit Oil International Ltd, Akindele’s Original Statement to the Police, and a Motion filed before a Nasarawa State High Court, were marked as exhibits A2, A3, and A4, respectively.
The court allowed these documents during the resumption of the cross-examination of the first prosecution witness, Mr. Ibrahim Ezekiel Sini, a Superintendent of Police (SP).
Mr. Akindele is being prosecuted on a single count charge of allegedly bribing a Police officer to influence an investigation regarding the purported diversion of $5,636,397.01 belonging to Summit Oil International Ltd.
During the recent court session, the defendant’s lawyer, Mrs. Funmi Quadri, SAN, confronted the witness with the petition indicating the alleged debt of her client, amounting to $5.6 million and N73 million.
According to the petitioner, the $5.6 million represents the outstanding debt while the N73 million accounts for reimbursement expenses.
During custody, Sini and his team reportedly had discussions with the defendant regarding the repayment of the debt to Summit Oil, to which Sini responded, “I can’t remember.”
Denying that the defendant used a police computer to draft a letter pledging to repay the debt, the witness mentioned that the defendant stated so in a written statement.
Furthermore, Mrs. Quadri presented the original statement made by Akindele to the IGP. In this statement, the defendant asserted that the funds transferred to an account provided by Sini were a demonstration of his commitment to settle part of the alleged debt owed to Summit Oil International Ltd.
Sini refuted claims of setting up a separate investigative panel to probe the alleged N50 million bribe due to his own involvement, stating, “we cannot be a judge in our own case” as he was the accuser.
Upon completion of the cross-examination, Justice Osho-Adebiyi adjourned the session to April 18 for the police to present their next witnesses.
The single count charge, marked CR/595/2023, reads:
“That you Akintoye Akindele, aged 49, MD/CEO of Duport Midstream Company Limited of D2 Mambilla Close Osborne Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, between 5th and 9th August 2023 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this court while being investigated by SP Ibrahim Ezekiel Sini and team on a petition submitted to the Inspector General of Police FIB by Summit Oil International Ltd on allegation of diversion of the sum of $5,636,397.01 Million USD and N73,543,763.25, you offered gratification of N150,000,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira) and made part payment of N50,000,000.00 (Fifty Million Naira) to SP Ibrahim Sini, a public servant in circumstance and for the purpose of allowing you to escape abroad and to write a report in your favour and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 118 of the Penal Code Law.”