Sambo, Abba Dabo, on Thursday told a Federal High Court
in Abuja that he returned to the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission the sum of N25m paid to him by the
National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic
Party, Olisa Metuh, for the party’s media publicity works.
Dabo, who was testifying as the seventh prosecution
witness against Metuh, said he returned the money on his
own volition in January 2016 due to media publications
indicating that it was sourced from funds meant for
procurement of arms.
He said the N25m was paid to him through Metuh’s firm,
Destra Investment Limited’s account, on December 16,
2014, five days after former President Goodluck Jonathan
and Sambo emerged as the PDP’s presidential and vice-
presidential candidates at the party’s nomination
convention.
The witness, who is a past newspaper’s editor and a former
Chief Press Secretary to ex-President Shehu Shagari, said
he decided to return the money to the EFCC because he
could not reach Metuh, who was then in the custody of the
anti-graft agency.
The PDP chief said, “Unfortunately, there were reports in
the media on this transaction with Chief Metuh linking it to
controversial circumstances. I mean it was identified that
Chief Metuh paid the N25m into my account through his
company and that the source of the money was from the
arms deal that was being discussed generally in the
country.
explain, and because it was paid to my personal account ,
in my name, I decided to make a refund, and I paid it to the
EFCC, because I couldn’t reach Mr. Metuh that particular
time.
“The newspapers were awash with the story that linked the
money given to me to the arms money that was said to
have been diverted to other uses by the Office of the
National Security Adviser. On my own volition, I decided
that the best way out of the rigmarole was to pay back the
amount. I paid it back to EFCC.”
The EFCC is prosecuting Metuh and Destra Investments
Limited on seven counts of fraudulent collection of N400m
from the Office of the National Security Adviser on
November 22, 2014 and money laundering involving cash
transaction to the tune of $2m.
The prosecution alleged that the N400m which Metuh got
from the NSA office and used for the PDP’s campaign
activities was “part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity”
of the immediate past NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.).
Dabo said on Thursday that with the N25m which he got
from Metuh in the build-up to the 2015 presidential
election, he helped to mitigate and counter negative media
reports against the then Jonathan-led government and the
PDP.
He said he used the money to run the Media Support
System which he had set up to boost the PDP’s media
profile in response to “vicious attacks” from Hausa radio
stations and criticisms from the Nigerian media as well as
the social media.
He said he also set up a team of facilitators and young
Information Technology enthusiasts, who were active on
the Internet to run a website, What’s Up Naija.
He added, “From the money we received from Chief Metuh,
we paid salaries and allowances of facilitators, bought
equipment and computers for the young people working on
What’s Up Naija.
“We even paid that year’s rent for our office at 12B, Deb
Street, Off Danube Street in Maitama, Abuja. We also used
that office to monitor the election.”
Dabo, who described Metuh as “a loyal party man,
dedicated, strong and outspoken person,” said he, however,
chose to refund the money to the EFCC following media
reports linking the money to the botched purchase of arms.
“I decided to refund the money not only because it was from
the NSA Office, but also because it was linked to the
botched arms purchase deal,” Dabo said.
But the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, on Thursday
upheld an objection raised by the defence to the
admissibility of documents relating to the activities of the
What’s Up Naija and Media Support System as well as the
tenancy agreement for the office used by the campaign
platforms.
The judge rejected the documents relating to the two
campaign platforms because, being computer-generated,
they did not meet the standard set out in Section 84(1) (a)
to (c) of the Evidence Act, and the tenancy agreement
because the prosecution failed to lay proper foundation as
to why it tendered the photocopy instead of the original.
Under cross-examination by the defence counsel, Mr.
Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), Dabo confirmed that he considered
the refund of the money “absolutely important,” and that he
made the refund to the EFCC through three bank drafts.
“I wrote a letter to the EFCC attaching three bank drafts
with a cover letter acknowledging that Chief Olisa Metuh,
the PDP National Publicity Secretary, gave N25m to me on
December 16, 2014 for the purposes of publicity campaign
which was done by Whats Up Naija and Media Support
System,” he said.
He said he did not mention the refund in his statement
made to the EFCC on January 6, 2016 “because I needed to
go to the bank the next day to make necessary
arrangement.”
Fielding more questions from Ikpeazu, the witness
confirmed that he was at Metuh’s home in Gudu area of
Abuja on the day he was arrested while trying to find out
the source of the campaign money from him.
“Up till now, I have not have the chance of meeting with
him,” the witness said.
He confirmed that former President Jonathan, the Federal
Government and the PDP benefitted “immensely” from the
media works Metuh engaged him for.
Metuh attended the proceedings from home on Thursday,
without handcuffs and prison officials around him.
Thursday was his first court appearance after he met his
bail conditions and was released from prison.
Decked in a black suit with a pair of eye glasses, his gray
beards which were left to grow during his 13 days of
detention, had been shaved clean.
Like the previous court sessions, a battery of women party
faithful in the PDP-customised wrappers, relatives and
friends, filled all available spaces in the court room.
After the court proceedings on Thursday, they surrounded
and accompanied Metuh to a waiting Prado jeep which later
drove him away.
Justice Abang adjourned till Monday for further trial.
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