A former Executive Director of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Captain Ezekiel Bala Agaba, has told a Federal High Court in Lagos that he personally delivered $15 million in cash to the agency’s former Director-General, Patrick Akpobolokemi.
Agaba gave the testimony while appearing as a prosecution witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). He was initially listed as a defendant in the case but later agreed to testify for the prosecution.
Akpobolokemi, who was appointed NIMASA Director-General in 2010 by former President Goodluck Jonathan and removed from office in 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari, is standing trial alongside several others on charges of conspiracy, fraudulent conversion of funds and money laundering.
The EFCC alleged that the defendants diverted more than N1.15 billion under the guise of providing security intelligence in Nigeria’s maritime domain.
Led in evidence by EFCC counsel Suleiman Suleiman, Agaba told the court that funds meant for pipeline surveillance were withdrawn from NIMASA accounts, converted into dollars through a bureau de change and brought to the agency’s office on Burma Road in Apapa, Lagos.
He said the $15 million cash was later delivered directly to Akpobolokemi in his office.
“The money was sent to a bureau de change, which later brought the dollar equivalent to our office at Burma Road, Apapa,” he said. “I asked my personal assistant, Ekene Nwakuche, to carry the bag and follow me to the Director-General’s office. When we got to the door, I collected the bag from him and asked him to wait outside before I personally handed over the $15 million to the Director-General.”
During the proceedings, the witness was shown a letter from Access Bank to the EFCC detailing transactions in NIMASA accounts between 2013 and 2015. Asked to confirm the amount he delivered to the former Director-General, Agaba replied: “$15 million.”
Justice Ayokunle Faji subsequently adjourned the case until 22 and 23 April for continuation of the trial.