An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigating officer has told the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Apo, Abuja, that the first defendant in an alleged $700,000 fraud case claimed to be the Personal Assistant to the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede.
The witness, Tanko Abubakar, who is the second prosecution witness (PW2), made the disclosure on Thursday, November 5, 2026, during the trial of Ojoba Joshua and Aliyu Haskim before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie.
The defendants are facing an amended four-count charge bordering on impersonation, conspiracy and obtaining $700,000 by false pretence.
The EFCC alleged that Joshua and Haskim conspired to obtain the money from a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko, by falsely presenting themselves as EFCC operatives.
According to the prosecution, the defendants allegedly told Bello-Koko that his tenure as NPA managing director was under investigation by the EFCC and claimed that the commission’s chairman and Director of Operations demanded $1 million to discontinue the investigation.
The defendants allegedly negotiated the amount down to $700,000.
During cross-examination by counsel to the first defendant, Obinna Nwosu, Abubakar said he encountered Joshua during the investigation and that the defendant introduced himself as the EFCC chairman’s personal assistant in the presence of the second defendant.
When asked to provide evidence of the alleged declaration, the witness said video recordings contained statements by Haskim indicating that Joshua had introduced himself as the EFCC chairman’s aide.
“My Lord, there are video clips to show when the second defendant said in his statement that he is the PA to the EFCC chairman. He said this when we were driving in the car,” the witness told the court.
However, when asked to identify the specific portion of the video where the alleged statement was made, Justice Onwuegbuzie observed that playing the entire recordings would consume considerable court time.
The judge consequently directed the prosecution to review the video evidence, identify the relevant portions and present them at the next adjourned date.
Earlier, prosecution counsel, Elizabeth Alabi, drew the court’s attention to an affidavit seeking permission to call her next witness virtually because the individual was outside the country and would be unavailable to testify physically.
Justice Onwuegbuzie granted the application and adjourned the case to November 9, 16, 19, 23 and 30, 2026, for continuation of trial.
