Witness tells court how Dasuki paid Metuh for ‘security services’

A PROSECUTION witness told the Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday that Destral Investment Limited, the company of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spokesman, Olisa Metuh received N400 million for non-existent contracts from a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account of the National Security Adviser’s (NSA) office.

The payment done in electronic form was said to have been for security services rendered by Destral Limited.In the ongoing trial of Metuh for alleged N400m fraud, a legal officer in the office of the NSA, Barrister Bali Ndam, testifying for the prosecuting Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), informed the court that the former NSA, Col. M. S. Dasuki authorized the transfer of the money to Destral Limited.

The witness, presented by the EFCC prosecution, also tendered the schedule of payment, which authorized CBN to make the payment to Destral Limited.

Ndam, led in the evidence by the prosecution counsel, Mr. Sylvanus Tahir, informed Justice Okon Abang that the office of the NSA, to the best of his knowledge, did not award any contract to Destral Investments Limited where it received N400m.
Ndam said that as the legal officer in the NSA’s office, whose schedule, involved legal drafting, legal opinion and contract vetting, he never came across any document indicating that a contract of N400m was at anytime awarded to Destral Limited.
Attempts to tender three different documents against the defendant by the prosecution was strongly opposed by Counsel to Olisa Metuh, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, who insisted the witness was not the author of the documents and cannot be cross-examined in its regard.

The documents are; the petition, dated November 28, 2015, list of companies that benefited from the e-payments and the schedule of payment that authorized CBN to transfer huge sums to various companies and individuals nearing the end of the previous administration.

Besides claiming that the witness was not the author of the document, the Ikpeazu argued that there were discrepancies on the heading of one of the documents sought to be tendered which indicated that it is not the same as the one written against the defendant.

Justice Abang in his ruling, however, dismissed the objection and admitted the documents in evidence saying that the witness as a staff of the Federal Government, which put Metuh on trial, can testify and tender documents on behalf of the government or any of its agencies.

Justice Abang also said: “The documents did not need certification because they are mere correspondences from private organizations and individuals and not titled documents that required payment of specified amount as demanded by law.”
While under cross-examination by Ikpeazu, Ndam read out a portion of the tendered document to the effect “due process was followed in awarding and payment for the contract”.

Ndam who agreed that the Administration and Finance Department was responsible for payment of contract costs and he also read out another portion in the tendered document to the effect that the “payment was for purchase of three operational vehicles”.
Ndam admitted that the schedule of payment admitted by the court authorizing the payment of N400m into Destral account was not forged and that it actually emanated from the office of the NSA and was authorized by the then NSA for implementation.

He also admitted that he made a statement to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on January 21, after the case against Metuh had been adjourned for trial.

The witness, however, disagreed with the defence counsel that he was ‘procured to manufacture evidence against the defendants’ claiming that “it is not true that I was procured to manufacture evidence against the defendant”.

He said: “I am on oath to say the facts as they are and it is not true that I was procured to manufacture evidence in this matter simply because of my statement of January 21. As a matter of fact investigations are still ongoing.”

Justice Abang, at the instance of the parties for hearing and continuation of the trial, adjourned the matter till January 27, 2016. Trial continues today (Wednesday).