An Ikeja Special Offences Court has heard fresh details of how former Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria managing director Ahmed Lawan Kuru allegedly diverted funds belonging to Arik Air while serving as the airline’s receiver manager.
Testifying for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Assistant Director Bawal Usman Kaltungo said investigators discovered that Arik Air’s money was used to pay insurance liabilities for Umza Aviation Services Limited, also known as Umza Airline. He told Justice Mojisola Dada that Umza later began repaying the funds, but the repayment was not completed by the time the probe was conducted.
Kuru is standing trial alongside another receiver manager of Arik Air, Kamilu Alaba Omokide, the airline’s managing director Captain Roy Ilegbodu, Union Bank Plc and Super Bravo Limited over alleged fraud involving 76 billion naira and 31.5 million dollars. The defendants face charges of conspiracy, stealing, abuse of office and making false statements over the alleged conversion of Arik Air assets.
Kaltungo said the EFCC traced several accounts opened by AMCON for Arik Air and invited the account officer, who submitted a signed statement of the loan account to investigators. The goal, he explained, was to confirm whether the receiver manager was properly managing the airline in line with his mandate, but the commission concluded that he was not.
He also told the court that Omokide wrote a petition to the Attorney General of the Federation during the investigation, alleging harassment and asking that the probe be stopped. The petition, which had 39 attachments and a legal opinion from the Solicitor General, was admitted in evidence.
The witness said the EFCC extended its investigation to the Central Bank of Nigeria and obtained a certified copy of minutes from the 494th meeting of the CBN Committee of Governors, which approved the appointment of a receiver manager for Arik Air. He listed those present, including then CBN governor Godwin Emefiele and top banking supervisors, and said the takeover followed about a week after the approval.
According to Kaltungo, the meeting was told that Arik, which then handled about 60 percent of domestic passenger traffic, could collapse within two weeks without urgent intervention. The CBN was also informed that the airline had paid off cash collaterals to technical partners such as Lufthansa and allowed them to exit Nigeria, signalling that the owner had effectively abandoned the company.
During Thursday’s proceedings, the prosecution sought to tender a certified insurance certificate linked to the Umza transaction, but defence lawyers objected. Senior advocates Taiwo Osipitan, Oyinkan Badejo, Olalekan Ojo and Tayo Oyetibo argued that the document was not listed among the materials supporting the six count charge and did not specifically mention the alleged diversion of Arik funds.
Lead prosecutor Wahab Shittu urged the court to admit the document, saying it related to allegations of abuse of office and stealing and was properly certified. In a bench ruling, Justice Dada held that the certificate was not among the documents filed with the charge and rejected it.
The trial was adjourned and continues today.
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