Aluyi Victor told the court that the sales of the Benue State-owned shares yielded N9.44 billion.

Led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, Victor told the court that sometime in January 2014, the company made a presentation to the state’s executive on the need “to consolidate its financial assets in order for it to be properly managed for optimal returns”.

He said, “Elixir got a verbal instruction from the former commissioner to consolidate the shares from various stock brokering houses, which was valued at about N25.5 billion and made up predominantly of Dangote Cement and Julius Berger shares.”

He told the court that the instruction from Okolobia was handed down to the managing director of the company ordering that the money made from the sales be paid into three different bank accounts.

Based on the instruction, Victor said that a total of N1 billion was paid to Benue Investment and Property Company Limited, and N5.3 billion to Benue State Ministry of Finance.

He added that a third payment of N3,111,008,018.51 being part of the money made from the sale of the shares, was credited into the Zenith Bank account of Fanffash Resources, a bureau de change firm owned by Abubakar Umar.

A written instruction for the remittance of the proceeds from the sale of shares had already been presented before the court at a previous sitting, and admitted as evidence against the defendants.

“At the point of making payment, we however realised that there was no name of Fanffash Resources on the written instruction and we made the observation that the account does not belong to Benue State government or Benue State Ministry of Finance.”

He further noted that another 24 million shares of Dangote Cement was sold in order to mitigate the risk of a substantial drop in the value of the portfolio and a total of N3.7 billion was realised as they had gotten a written instruction to raise N10 billion for the state.

The letter for the instruction to raise N10 billion, and authority to sell block trade at the discount of 15 percent in the stock market were admitted as evidence.

Also accepted as evidence were the certified true copies of the letter of instruction acknowledged by the bank, and forwarded to the company.

Justice Mohammed, thereafter, adjourned to March 22, 2016 for continuation of trial.

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Suswan and Okolobia are facing a nine-count charge bordering on diversion of N3.1 billion during his tenure as governor.

At the resumed hearing Monday, Shiedu, who was led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, further told the court that Elixir was invited by the state government to carry out a check of where the state’s shares were domiciled and consolidate them in one stock- broking firm.

She added that the state government consequently needed BIPCL, as the custodian of the shares, to sign, in order to enable Elixir achieve the mandate of consolidating the shares.

She also told the court that both Suswan and Okpanachi directed BIPCL to pay Elixir the proceeds of Benue State shares, into two accounts, provided by the ministry of finance letter head.

However, she said that no specific amount was indicated in the correspondence. “When Elixir called me to find out what was to be paid into each of the accounts, I said that since the money was going to the Benue State government, a request should be forwarded to the Commissioner of Finance. It was communicated on the Company’s letter head,” Shiedie explained.

The court had earlier admitted in evidence, the certified copy of Certificate of Incorporation of BIPCL from the Corporate Affairs Commission.

The defence counsel, Joseph Daudu, SAN, asked for an adjournment to enable him cross-examine the witness, saying she is crucial to the case.

Consequently, the case was adjourned to February 16, 2016.

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