$700,000 Fraud: Witness Tells Court Defendant Claimed to Be EFCC Chairman’s PA

A prosecution witness in the alleged $700,000 fraud trial involving two defendants has told an Abuja High Court that the first defendant, Joshua Ojoba, introduced himself as the Personal Assistant to the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede.

The witness, Tanko Abubakar, an investigating officer with the EFCC, made the disclosure on Thursday, November 5, 2026, while being cross-examined by counsel to the first defendant, Obinna Nwosu, before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Apo, Abuja.

The EFCC is prosecuting Ojoba and the second defendant, Aliyu Haskim, on an amended four-count charge bordering on impersonation, conspiracy and obtaining $700,000 by false pretence.

The defendants allegedly 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 approached Bello-Koko, claiming that his tenure as NPA managing director was under investigation by the commission. They allegedly told him that the EFCC chairman and the Director of Operations demanded $1 million to stop the investigation, before eventually agreeing to collect $700,000.

During Thursday’s proceedings, Abubakar told the court that he encountered the first defendant during the investigation, when Ojoba allegedly introduced himself as the EFCC chairman’s personal assistant in the presence of the second defendant.

When asked to provide evidence of the claim, the witness said video recordings captured the second defendant stating in his statement that Ojoba had introduced himself as the chairman’s personal assistant.

“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 recording where the alleged statement was made, the witness could not immediately provide it.

The judge subsequently directed the prosecution to review the video recordings, identify the relevant portions and present them to the court at the next adjourned sitting, noting that playing the entire recordings would consume considerable court time.

Meanwhile, prosecution counsel, Elizabeth Alabi, drew the court’s attention to an affidavit seeking permission to call her next witness virtually because the witness was outside the country and would not be available 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.