We don’t know Jonathan’s cousin, Azibaola – EFCC witnesses tell court

Azibaola-Robert

The trial of the cousin of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Azibaola Robert, and his wife, Stella, over alleged laundering of $40 million cash, continued on Friday, with all the witnesses called by the Economic and Financial Commission, EFCC, denying knowledge of the couple.

Rather, they admitted transacting business with his firm, Oneplus, which was reportedly awarded the contract for the supply of Strategic Communications kits by the Office of the National Security Adviser in 2014.


The witnesses, Mohammed Abdurazak Bello, Confidence Onabu Iwade and Remiginus Ugwu, told Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court Abuja that they neither knew nor did any business with the defendants.

Prosecution Witness 5, Folashade Ibrahim, said she neither knew nor did any business with Robert or Stella and that they were not beneficiaries of the money she disbursed from the accounts of Tunji Adeniyi & Co, a property firm owned and managed by Tunji Adeniyi.

Under cross-examination by the defence counsel, Gordy Uche, of what she knew Robert and Stella, Ibrahim replied: “No. I don’t even know them. And they are not part of the beneficiaries of the transfers from the account of Tunji & Co,”


In his testimony, PW6, Mohammed Abdulrazak Bello, who is the Managing Director of BDC Safeway Clean Exchange, said: “I don’t know the man, I don’t know the lady,” referring to Aziboala and Stella Robert, “but I have dealt with Oneplus Holdings”.

Bello added: “The transaction between me and the Bank officials is legal; there is nothing illegal about it.

“They told me that the bank did not have enough dollar cash and asked me to source dollar from the black market for them. In all we transacted $6.6 million. At times I paid Naira into an account.


“All these transactions were handled between Amobi Odum, Obinna AMAECHI and Nnadozie. In my statement I did say I have never met One plus Holdings Nigeria Limited.”

Also testifying, confidence Iwade, a marketer with Capital Field Energy and Allied Service, admitted: “I don’t know them (referring to Robert and Stella) but my office had had dealing with Oneplus Holdings sometimes in 2014.

“We had transaction of $2 million, which Oneplus paid into my company’s account and the Naira equivalent paid into Kamarudeen Dahiru’s account. And this is a normal, legal business and which my company has also done with other companies.”

The Prosecution, led by Sylvanus Tahir, submitted that the EFCC intended to call no fewer than 13 witnesses to prove its case against the defendants, adding that eight had so far been called to testify.

The statements of the witnesses were admitted by the judge, who adjourned to June 20 and 21.