Olushola Omogbehin
The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, has told the Federal High Court on Wednesday in Abuja that the 20 houses he was accused of not declaring as his assets were owned by his late father.
Kyari, who opened his defence before Justice James Omotosho, claimed that his late father left behind more than 20 houses in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Answering questions under cross-examination by the prosecution in a non-disclosure of assets trial, Kyari said:
“My Lord, I cannot put my interest about the property in the form because the 20 houses belong to my father and not me. If I get my percentage of share, I can put it, but until when I get my own percentage. All the properties left behind by my father belong to all his children and we are about 30 in number.”
He maintained before the court that he could not include his father’s assets, which belong to the entire family, in his asset declaration form. He also explained that he initially declined to fill the asset declaration form when the NDLEA officers invited him because he demanded that his lawyers must be there with him.
Kyari is facing 23 counts filed against him by the NDLEA, which alleged that he and two co-defendants, Mohammed Kyari and Ali Kyari, failed to fully declare their assets, disguised ownership of properties and converted funds contrary to the law contravene Section 35(3)(a) of the NDLEA Act and Section 15(3)(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.
Meanwhile, Kyari argued that the NDLEA failed to prove ownership of the properties tied to him, citing Section 128 of the Evidence Act, which he said requires certified true copies of title documents to prove transactions over state lands.
Justice Omotosho who noted that the ruling did not imply guilt but allowed the defendants to enter their defence, maintained that they remain presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
Kyari said he was conversant with the asset-declaration process but could not include inherited properties since the assets were collectively owned.
“I cannot include my father’s properties in my asset-declaration form because they belong to the entire family, not me. If I get my percentage share, I can declare it, but not before then,” he said.
