Micheal Wetkas, the prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on Wednesday, told the Code of Conduct Tribunal that Saraki’s name did not appear on any of the documents linking him to properties in Maitama district, Abuja.
Wetkas, who was cross examined by the defence counsel, Paul Usoro (SAN), was questioned about the property located at Plot 2481 Cadastral Zone and 2482 Cadastral Zone allegedly owned by Saraki.
Wetkas read a letter from Abuja Metropolitan Management Agency which informed the EFCC that the property was transferred to Carlisle Properties and Investment Limited, using a power of attorney.
The witness confirmed to the Tribunal that the power of attorney was made in 1992, 10 years before Saraki became governor of Kwara State.
He said the power of attorney was issued between one David Baba Akawo and Allied Properties Ltd, and Saraki’s personal name never appeared on any of the document relating to the transactions on the Abuja property.
When the defence counsel, Usoro, put it to the witness that Carlisle Investments and Property Company Limited is different from the defendant as a person, the witness said: “Even though the documentation is in the name of Carlisle Properties and investment limited, we believe that the property belong to the defendant because the company belongs to him”.
On the ownership of Carlisle Investment Company Limited, whose certificate of incorporation was tendered before the Tribunal, the witness said that Saraki’s name was never mentioned in the ownership of the firm.
The witness said that the certification of incorporation bears Oluwatoyin Ojora and Barbs Trading & Manufacturing Limited, adding that the two owners were alloted ten thousand shares each.
In the certificate of incorporation of Carlisle Nigeria Limited obtained at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) by the EFCC, Wetkas, who was asked to read out the name of the defendant on the document, simply told the Tribunal that he could not see the name of Saraki on the certificate.
Usoro observed that the Certificate of Incorporation of Barbs Trading & Manufacturing Company Limited allegedly owned by Saraki was not tendered in evidence.
The witness said that CAC was still searching for it.
And when asked to tender the letter written by the EFCC to CAC requesting for that certificate, he told the Tribunal that the letter was also not available.
At 4pm, the lead counsel to the defence, Kanu Agabi (SAN), asked the court for an adjournment but the request was opposed by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), insisting that they have spent 10 days in cross examining the witness.
This position infuriated a member of the tribunal, Atedze, who urged Jacob to be considerate.
He reminded him that the court had to wait additional one hour for him and his witness to arrive and when it was time to adjourn, he remembered that he had to conclude the trial.
Rotimi, however, explained that his witness has been in the box for 11 days, noting that it was the longest cross examination he has ever witnessed.
He also recalled how he was on his way to the tribunal in the morning and was told that the court had stood down the matter at the instance of the defence witness.
