Austen Obigwe, a former Group Executive Director of Union Bank PLC, told the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja how he wrote off a $2.3 million debt Arik Air owed his private company, Staal Corp.
He gave this testimony on Wednesday while continuing as the second prosecution witness before Justice Mojisola Dada in the trial of former AMCON Managing Director Ahmed Kuru and four others accused of defrauding Arik Air of ₦76 billion and $31.5 million.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned the defendants on a six-count charge of conspiracy and theft. Alongside Kuru, the defendants include former receiver manager of Arik Air Kamilu Omokide, Arik’s CEO Captain Roy Ilegbodu, Union Bank of Nigeria PLC, and Super Bravo Limited.
They all pleaded not guilty, and the court granted them bail of ₦20 million each with a surety in like sum.
Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel Wahab Shittu (SAN), Obigwe began his testimony at the previous hearing in March and continued under cross-examination by defence counsel Olasupo Shasore (SAN), Olalekan Ojo (SAN), and Tayo Oyedepo (SAN).
Obigwe said Arik Air had owed Staal Corp $2.3 million as of 2011, two years after he left Union Bank. He stated he wrote off the debt due to Arik’s financial difficulties. “I am not interested in collecting it,” he told the court.
He confirmed that he had done consultancy work for Arik Air after leaving Union Bank and acknowledged that he had a personal relationship with the airline’s founder, Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide, although no formal connection now exists.
He recalled inspecting 26 aircraft “purportedly” owned by Arik in 2009. According to him, Lufthansa evaluated them as airworthy, and he had no reason to doubt their findings. The inspection was to confirm Arik’s fleet had not been depleted.
Obigwe said that during his time at Union Bank, Arik Air had no record of defaulting on loans. He added that a letter from AMCON dated April 2009, which mentioned a ₦46.11 billion debt, was never brought to his notice while he worked at the bank.
Asked about loan recovery measures, he said lenders could sell or reassign the loan or enforce security if the borrower defaults.
The court adjourned the trial to June 4 for further proceedings.