A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court was yesterday told that the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Justice Danladi Umar, severally met with an accused person who was standing trial before him in his chamber.

The witness and his former Personal Assistant, Ali Gambo Abdullahi, further told the court that the accused, one Rasheed Taiwo Owolabi, a retired Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs, who was at the time standing trial on false asset declaration charges, had severally visited the CCT boss.

He made the disclosure while giving evidence in the trial within trial on the disputed statement he made to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in respect of the alleged N10 million bribe demanded by Umar to strike out the charges against the retired Customs chief.

Abdullahi, while being cross-examined by counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Andrew Akoja, informed Justice Chizobia Oji that a sum of N1.8 million was paid into the CCT chair’s account by the ex-Customs chief at the end of their last meeting.

Contrary to his statement made to the EFCC on August 12, 2013 where he said the sum was part of the N10 million bribe meant for Umar, the witness however, said, the money was deposited into his Zenith Bank account by the accused person to offset the medical bill of his ailing father.

Abdullahi further he never met with Owolabi until he started visiting the CCT chairman in the course of his trial and that the money was paid to him immediately after the last visit to the CCT boss.

When confronted yesterday with the statement where he had implicated the CCT chairman on the N10 million bribery saga, the witness said the first statement was made under duress and based on gratification promised him by two operatives of the anti-graft agency (names withheld) who earlier investigated the petition of the ex-Customs top officer.

When further cross-examined by the EFCC counsel, the witness read out some portions of the statement, identified his signature and admitted that he signed the statement.

He also admitted that he signed an attestation confirming that his statement was voluntarily made Abdullahi had earlier in his evidence-in-chief told the court that he was a protocol officer at the CCT when he was employed in 2009 and later an aide to the chairman.