Lawyer clarifies alleged N150m bribery allegation against Police officer

Counsel to Akintoye Akindele, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Support Midstream Limited, Funmi Quadri (SAN) has told a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja that N150million allegedly given to an investigative police officer, SP Ibrahim Ezekiel was not bribe but part payment of the debt owed Summit Oil International Ltd.

The counsel made the clarification, while presenting some documents before the trial judge, Modupe Osho-Adebiyi during the resumed hearing of the bribery case against Akindele.

Akindele is standing trial on a one-count charge of bribing a Police officer to compromise his investigation on alleged diversion of the sum of $5,636,397.01, belonging to Summit Oil International Ltd.

But the counsel, who presented three documents, clarified that the N150million allegedly given to SP Ezekiel was not a bribe but part payment of the debt owed Summit Oil International Ltd.

One of the documents, showed that the N150 million allegedly transferred to the officer by Akindele,was part payment of the debt he owed Summit Oil International Ltd and not meant to bribe him as alleged

Justice Osho-Adebiyi, admitted the documents, which included a petition to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) by Summit Oil International Ltd, Original Statement of Akindele to the Police and a motion filed before a Nasarawa State High Court.

All three documents were admitted and marked as exhibits A2, A3 and A4, respectively.The court also admitted the documents of the first prosecution witness (PW1), SP Ezekiel.

Recall that the judge had on February 28, adjourned for the continuation of cross examination of the witness by Quadri. At the resumed hearing, the SAN confronted the witness with the petition showing that the alleged indebtedness of her client is $5.6 million, while N73 million was reimbursement expenses.

She claimed that while in custody, Ezekiel and his team had several meetings with the defendant and that on one occasion the defendant was asked how he intends to liquidate his debt to Summit Oil.

The lawyer went ahead to tender the original statement Akindele made to the IGP, wherein he claimed that the money he had transferred to an account provided by the police officer was to demonstrate his willingness to pay part of the $5.6 million and N73 million owed the petitioner (Summit Oil International Ltd).

Meanwhile, Ezekiel has denied that the police had set up a different panel to investigate the alleged N50 million bribe. According to the witness, since he was the one accusing Akindele of bribery, “we can not be a judge in our own case.” At the end of the cross examination, Justice Osho-Adebiyi, adjourned the case to May 2, for the police to call their next witnesses.