Alleged N150m bribe: Court admits documents in evidence against oil magnate Akintoye Akindele

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) yesterday admitted three documents in evidence in the bribery trial of the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Duport Midstream Company Limited, Mr. Akintoye Akindele.

Justice Modupe Osho-Adebiyi admitted the documents and marked them as exhibits accordingly during the cross-examination of the first prosecution witness (PW1), Mr. Ibrahim Ezekiel Sini, a Superintendent of Police (SP).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the documents included a petition to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) by Summit Oil International Limited, an original statement Akindele reportedly made to the police and a motion filed before a Nasarawa State High Court.

They were admitted and marked as Exhibits A2, A3 and A4.

The judge had, on February 28, adjourned for the continuation of cross-examination of S. P. Sini by the defendant (Akindele)’s lawyer, Mrs. Funmi Quadri (SAN).When the matter was called yesterday, Quadri confronted the witness with the petition, showing that the indebtedness of her client, according to the petitioner, was $5.6 million and N73 million.

While the $5.6 million is said to be the debt owed, the N73 million is said to be reimbursement expenses. The SAN alleged that while in custody, Sini and his team had several meetings with the defendant, recalling that on one occasion, Akindele was asked how he intended to liquidate his debt to Summit Oil. But the witnesses said: “I can’t remember.” Nation