An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s prosecution witness, Adeniyi Adebayo, on Monday narrated before a Federal High Court, Lagos, how the Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, collected millions of naira in cash from the House under various headings.
Adebayo did the narration while continuing his testimony at the ongoing trial of Ikuforiji and his personal assistant, Oyebode Atoyebi, for alleged money laundering.
Both Ikuforiji and Atoyebi are being prosecuted by the EFCC for 54 counts of recieving over N600m from the Lagos State House of Assembly without passing through a financial institution between April 2010 and July 2011.
Adebayo, an EFCC investigator, commenced his testimony on November 21, before Justice Ibrahim Buba.
He maintained on Monday that Atoyebi had admitted that he received millions of naira in cash from the Accounts Department of the Lagos State House of Assembly on behalf of the speaker.
According to the witness, Atoyebi on different occasions collected money in cash on behalf of Ikuforiji for Ramadan, speaker’s wife’s orderly; the speaker’s office; running expenses and members’ travelling allowances.
He added that sums of money were also collected from the House of Assembly by Atoyebi for estacodes; speakers’ residence allowances; speakers’ guest house allowances, among others.
Led in evidence by the prosecutor, Mr Godwin Obla (SAN), the witness said his team of investigators got the information through investigations into the cash registers recovered from the House of Assembly.
