Further hearing in the ongoing criminal trial of the former Managing Director/CEO of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) Ahmed Kuru, and others, resumed today at the Lagos Special Offences Court, Ikeja, before Justice Mojisola Dada in Ikeja, Lagos State, as the 4th prosecution witness, Mr Bawa Usman Kaltungo, concluded his testimony.
The protracted court debacle is in connection with the case where Kuru is being prosecuted alongside Kamilu Alaba Omokide, Captain Roy Ilegbodu, Union Bank Plc, and Super Bravo Limited over an alleged fraud of N76 billion and $31.5million, linked to Arik Air (in receivership).
Upon the conclusion of Kaltungo’s testimony, Counsel to the first and third defendants, Professor Taiwo Osipitan (SAN), who commenced cross-examination of the EFCC witness, established that Kaltungo may not have done a thorough job of his assignment as an EFCC investigator, as most of his testimony was based on assumptions, and not proper documentation of due processes.
He said his testimony revealed the Commission never engaged the services of a Forensic Accountant to establish the status of Arik’s indebtedness. Kaltungo also revealed that as the Lead Investigator, he did not possess any accounting background, putting into question his evidence and report on the Arik indebtedness. In his words, “there was no need” for the forensic audit nor an accounting background, as his position as Investigator was sufficient.
In his testimony, Kaltungo made desperate attempts to mislead and impose his personal opinion when he claimed that Mr Oluseye Opasaya (SAN), the first AMCON’s appointed Receiver Manager (RM), acted outside the ambit of his duties and engagement framework, when he proceeded to act as an RM over the affairs of Arik, contrary to being a Receiver.
However, Professor Osipitan (SAN), under cross-examination, clarified this position when he asked the witness if, in the course of his investigation, he knew for a fact that the appointment of the RM was backed and recognised by a lawful Court Order. Looking almost lost, he said he was just an investigator.
The fact further came to light when Professor Osipitan (SAN), asked Kaltungo if, in the course of investigation, he ever came across any documents or records establishing a nexus between first and third defendants in the sale of the embattled Arik loan from Union Bank to AMCON, he admitted that there was none.
The witness further confirmed under cross-examination that there was no link between the first and third defendants in the sale of the shares of Arik in Zenith Bank towards the liquidation of the Arik loan. With this new twist, the boisterous exuberance of an investigator, which Kaltungo had displayed all through the period of his testimony, disappeared.
Further, while Kaltungo had sought to tender a Legal Opinion from the Office of the Solicitor General, which he noted corroborated his findings as an Investigator. The cross-examination, however, revealed that the Legal Opinion was obtained long after the defendants had been charged and the trial commenced in the matter.
The above disclosure appeared to have indicted the evidence as an afterthought and a desperate attempt to source a legal opinion to back an unfounded allegation.
It would be recalled that the EFCC had dragged the former MD of AMCON, and others to Court following a petition by Mr Femi Falana on behalf of the promoter of Arik Air involving the ex-AMCON MD/CEO, Ahmed Kuru, Kamilu Omokide, a former receiver manager of Arik Air Limited; Captain Roy Ilegbodu, the airline’s CEO, Union Bank Limited; and Super Bravo Limited.
Meanwhile, further hearing of matter has been adjourned to May 18 and 19, May 2026.