The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, presented its ninth and final prosecution witness, PW9, Ape Sunday, in the ongoing trial of former Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam.
Suswam is being prosecuted alongside his former Commissioner for Finance, Omodachi Okolobia, on an amended 11-count charge bordering on the alleged diversion of public funds to the tune of ₦3.1 billion (Three Billion, One Hundred Million Naira), part of the proceeds from the sale of the state government’s shares held on its behalf by the Benue Investment and Property Company Limited.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, the prosecuting counsel, A.O. Atolagbe, informed the court that PW9 was the ninth and final witness for the prosecution, signaling the close of the prosecution’s case.
This followed the inability of the tenth prosecution witness, PW10, Mrs. Shiedu Awade, to testify due to ill health.
PW9, an investigator with the EFCC, while being led in evidence, told the court that PW10, a former cashier and executive officer at Benue Investment and Property Company Limited, had been hospitalized at the National Hospital in Abuja and was unable to appear in court due to the severity of her condition.
In response, counsels to the first and second defendants, C.E. Ugbozor and Paul Erokoro, SAN, respectively, informed the court of their intention to file a “no-case submission.” They requested 14 days to file the application, while the prosecuting counsel requested 21 days to file a response.
Justice Lifu adjourned the matter to June 24, 2025, for the adoption of the defence’s “no-case submission.”
