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| Olisa Metuh |
A former publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, insisted on Tuesday that the N400m he was being prosecuted for before the Federal High Court in Abuja was paid to him by a former President, Goodluck Jonathan.
Metuh made the claim in response to the charge that he fraudulently received N400m from the Office of the National Security Adviser and used it for the PDP’s presidential media campaigns in the 2015 election.
Metuh, who began his testimony as the 15th defence witness in 2018, said he had no doubt the money came from Jonathan whom he said had personally received contributions for the 2015 presidential campaigns.
He and his company, Destra Investment Limited, are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on seven counts of money laundering, including allegations that they both fraudulently took the N400m “when they reasonably ought to know” that the money was part of the proceeds of alleged criminal act of the then National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
Metuh was also accused of handling $2m cash without going through a financial institution in violation of a provision of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
At the resumed hearing in the case on Tuesday, Metuh continued with his evidence, with his counsel, Mr Emeka Etiaba (SAN), leading him.
He narrated how, in the build-up to the 2015 presidential election, he engaged a media consultant, Mr Yomi Badejo, with whom he made a presentation at the Presidential Villa on a media project aimed at boosting the image of the then Federal Government in terms of the fight against insurgency in the country.
He said Jonathan who was impressed by the proposal later called him on the telephone, requesting the cost of the execution of the media project.
According to him, he later sent the bills to Jonathan, who later informed him that his account had been credited with the N400m.
Asked by his lawyer, if he inquired into the source of the money, Metuh, said, “How can I make an inquiry into the source of the money when I already knew the source of the money?”
“I know the money came from the President as the leader of the party and on the assurance that funds were raised personally by him at that time.
“It is normal for the leader of the party or a candidate in an election to send money directly as contributions were mostly made directly to him by friends. The leader of the party informed me that he had made a payment of N400m into my account.”
Asked if he did not receive any alert or obtain a statement of account disclosing the source of the money, Metuh said he only saw the statement of his account after the N400m transaction on January 5, 2016 while he was in the detention of the EFCC.
He, however, explained that when Jonathan called him about the payment, he immediately called his account officer to confirm the payment.
The judge, Justice Okon Abang, adjourned till March 4 for the continuation of Metuh’s testimony.
He ordered that from March 4, the matter would continue day-to-day.
