A witness has revealed startling details about how he converted N3.1 billion into $15.8 million in cash, which was delivered to the home of former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam in Abuja. This revelation came during a court trial related to a money laundering case involving Suswam and his former Commissioner of Finance, Omodachi Okolobia.
The trial is being conducted at the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja. Recently, Justice Peter Lifu adjourned the case until October 4 after hearing testimony from Abubakar Umar, a bureau de change operator and the sixth prosecution witness in this case.
During his testimony, Umar explained that the N3.1 billion was transferred to him in several payments, starting with an initial deposit of N413 million on August 8, 2014. He stated that the transfers were made through a female proxy acting on Suswam’s behalf. Umar then converted the total sum into U.S. dollars at an exchange rate of N197 to $1, ultimately delivering $15.8 million in cash to Suswam’s residence.
day in 2014, when I was in the office, the former governor of Benue State asked me to meet him in his house in Maitama, Abuja. I went and met him in the house together with one fair woman. He asked me to give the woman my account number. I gave the woman my Zenith Bank account number. The woman said she’ll send money into that account.
“On the 8th of August 2014, N413 million was transferred to my account. Based on this, I called the former governor and he told me to change the money to dollars and I asked him to give me time to do that. Three days after I bought the dollar equivalent, I called the former governor and informed him that the money was ready. He now asked me to take the money to his house in Maitama, near Jumat Mosque. I now told him that he should inform the security at the gate that I was coming, if not they’ll not allow me access into the gate.
They opened the first and second gates and I sat in the waiting room where he came and met me. I now brought out the money which we both confirmed to be the equivalent of the N413 million. The exchange rate then was N197,” the statement quoted him to have said.
Testifying further, he said, “On the 12th of September 2014, N637 million was transferred to my account. After N637million was transferred to my account, after like 40 minutes N363million was also transferred into my account. On 13th October 2014, N630,008,050, (Six Hundred and Thirty Million, Eight Thousand and Fifty Naira) was also transferred to my account. On 17th October 2014 N1,068,000,000 (One Billion, Sixty-eight Million) was transferred to my account. It is the woman that was directed by the former governor to do the transfers. The total money transferred to my account was N3billion.”
“I took a cab to the house, and after I arrived at the house, I knocked at the gate and they opened. I told them my name.
Umar emphasized that he was not coerced by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to give his testimony and did not keep any formal records of the cash transactions. He typically buys dollars from fellow traders and records these exchanges at his discretion.
The EFCC is pursuing Suswam and Okolobia on multiple counts of money laundering linked to the proceeds from the sale of state government shares. These shares were managed by the Benue Investment and Property Company Limited and were sold through Elixir Securities Limited and Elixir Investment Partners Limited.
This ongoing case highlights significant issues of corruption and financial mismanagement in Nigeria, as the court continues to seek accountability for the alleged misuse of public funds. The upcoming hearing will be crucial in determining the outcome of this high-profile trial.
