Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — A prosecution witness has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, officially complained to the chairman of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited over the failure to convene board meetings and report project progress.
The witness, Isaac Yalah, who testified as the fourth prosecution witness, PW4, made the disclosure during the ongoing trial of Akindele Akintoye before Justice Ekerete Akpan.
Akintoye is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, alongside Platforms Capital Investment Partners Limited and Duport Midstream Company Limited on amended six-count charges bordering on dishonesty and alleged conversion of $35 million belonging to the NCDMB project.
Yalah, a former Director of Finance and Personnel and former Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at the NCDMB, made the statement while being cross-examined by counsel to the first and second defendants, E.O. Adekwu, SAN.
He told the court that the NCDMB raised concerns in February 2023 over the failure of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited to hold regular board meetings.
“At the initial start of the project, board meetings were held regularly to update the board members of the project until such a time where a lot of the board members resigned, so there were no regular meetings as mentioned,” Yalah said.
He added that official complaints were subsequently made by the board regarding the delay in executing the project and the absence of regular board meetings.
“I recalled specifically in early February 2023, we made a communiqué to the first defendant. When I said we, I meant NCDMB. The complaint that was raised was in accordance with Exhibit E,” he told the court.
According to him, the complaint was written on the letterhead of the NCDMB and addressed to the first defendant in his capacity as chairman and managing director.
Yalah further stated that the board was also concerned about the financial viability of the refinery project.
He told the court that the development had raised serious concerns within the NCDMB about the progress and management of the investment.
After hearing the testimony, Justice Akpan adjourned the matter for continuation of the cross-examination of the witness.
