By Henry Ojelu & Debora Oladeji

A prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of former Managing Director of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, Ahmed Kuru, on Tuesday admitted before the court that investigators did not trace any direct financial benefit to the ex-AMCON boss in connection with the controversial receivership and takeover of Arik Air.

The witness, Assistant Director of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Bawa Usman Kaltungo, made the admission during cross-examination by defence counsel, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan.

Kuru and four others are facing charges bordering on conspiracy, stealing, abuse of office, and making false statements, allegedly connected to the diversion and unlawful conversion of Arik Air’s assets valued at N76 billion and $31.5 million.

Other defendants in the matter are the receiver-manager of Arik Air, Kamilu Omokide; the airline’s Chief Executive Officer, Roy Ilegbodu; Super Bravo Limited; and Mohammed Abbas Jega.

Answering questions under cross-examination on Tuesday, the EFCC official initially claimed that Kuru benefited through shares allegedly connected to transactions under investigation.

However, when asked by defence lawyer, Prof. Osipitan, whether he personally traced any financial proceeds or direct benefit to the former AMCON boss, Kaltungo told the court: “I did not trace it.”

Pressed further by Osipitan on whether he had any concrete evidence showing that Kuru personally received money from the transactions, the witness responded: “What I know is that he benefited through shares.”

The defence counsel then asked him to identify the specific benefit traced to Kuru, to which the witness admitted he had no direct evidence linking the defendant to any personal financial gain.

The development came amid sustained efforts by the defence to discredit the prosecution’s investigation and evidence in the alleged N76 billion fraud case involving the airline’s receivership.

At the previous proceedings, the EFCC witness had testified that the commission relied on documents and statements obtained from former officials of Arik Air, AMCON, and other parties during the course of the investigation.

Kaltungo had also claimed that some aircraft belonging to Arik Air were allegedly disposed of without proper remittance of proceeds to the airline.

However, during Tuesday’s proceedings, the witness admitted under cross-examination that investigators did not obtain direct authority relating to the seizure or grounding of some aircraft linked to the airline.

The witness further admitted that some of the documents relied upon by the EFCC were supplied by third parties and were not independently verified by investigators.

He also conceded that certain persons linked to the documents either denied knowledge of them or were not confronted with the documents during the investigation.

On how the EFCC arrived at the conclusion that N49 billion recovered from the sale of Arik Air assets by AMCON was used to set up NG Eagle, the witness told the court that Arik Air’s Chief Financial Officer provided the information, which was further corroborated by the commission’s investigation findings.

Also answering questions on the alleged illegal conferment of benefits on some persons by Arik Air Chief Executive Officer, Roy Ilegbodu, Bawa admitted that one of the persons who allegedly received such benefits, Mogaji, was never questioned because he was out of the country at the time.

He stated that Mogaji later sent an email to the EFCC confirming receipt of the benefit and that the finding was contained in the commission’s report.

When asked to identify the portion of the EFCC report where the finding was stated, Bawa went through the document but could not point it out.

The defence subsequently confronted the EFCC witness with documents — two internal memos — showing approval by Arik Air for travel and expenses for Mogaji, who was then a member of the airline’s Advisory Committee headed by Dr. Dumeren.

The matter was adjourned till June 25, 2026, for continuation of cross-examination.