Justice Muhammad Liman of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, adjourned the trial of former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji and his former aide, Oyebode Alade, until June 1, 2023.
The trial is in connection to a 54-count charge of conspiracy and money laundering involving N338.8 million.
The charge alleged that the defendants accepted various cash payments from the Lagos State House of Assembly without going through a financial institution, an offence under the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2011.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
At the hearing counsel to Ikuforiji, Dele Adesina, SAN, claimed that the charges were politically motivated and originally focused on fraud and misappropriation of funds.
He added that the trial was based on a faceless petition that lacked details, and as a three-term Speaker, he would have been impeached and handed over to law enforcement agencies if he had committed such an infraction.
He also claimed that the Office of the Clerk and the Finance Department were responsible for handling cash and disbursement of funds, and denied any wrongdoing.
The first defence witness, a retiree and former Deputy Clerk of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Ibisola Olawoyin Ogayemi, confirmed that the Chief Accounting Officer of the House was the Clerk of the House, and described the modalities for financial transactions in the House.
He explained that after the Office of the Clerk and the Finance Department had completed the necessary paperwork, they would send it to the Speaker for approval.
After receiving consent, the documents would be returned to them, and the Office of the Clerk and the Finance Department would raise invoices and cheques.
The bank would then bring the cash to the Finance Department for disbursement in the presence of the bank’s officials and staff members of the Department to the beneficiaries.
The second defence witness, Kayode Motunrayo, a former Manager at First Bank, Agodi Branch, Ibadan, Oyo State, corroborated Ogayemi’s evidence, stating that when the bank received a cheque for payment from any government institution or agency, including the Oyo State House of Assembly, the bank would take the money down to the Finance Department of that Agency and carry out the disbursement in conjunction with the officials of the Finance department.
The trial was adjourned until June 1 and 2, 2023, for the continuation.
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