The 13th prosecution witness, Abubakar Madaki (PW 13), told Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, that former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), gave N1.2bn cash to Fayose to disguise the fund’s source.
The EFCC’s re-arraigned Fayose and Spotless Investment Limited on July 2, 2019, on charges of money laundering and stealing N6.9bn. The defendants were first arraigned on October 22, 2018, and a former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, testified that he was instructed by Dasuki to transfer N1.2 billion to Fayose from an account used as Boko Haram Special Intervention Account.
Madaki, an EFCC investigator, informed the court that the money was not a campaign donation from the PDP as claimed by Fayose, but was from the office of the NSA and budgeted for the purchase of security equipment.
During cross-examination, Madaki confirmed that he did not witness any of the transactions relevant to the charge when Fayose personally made them.
He also stated that all conclusions and investigations made available to the court were based on facts, including documents recovered in the course of investigations.
In his response to an enquiry about one “Eruka”, PW 13 stated that a statement was also obtained from him during investigations.
However, when the defence counsel sought to know if the said Eruka was in Abuja on the same day Obanikoro had claimed he was in Abuja, the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, objected, saying the witness could not be made to “give evidence on an extra-judicial statement of a dead man, which was merely tendered.”
In his ruling, the trial Judge, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke held that the witness should answer the question in the interest of justice.
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Consequently, the witness, in his response, said:” I can’t find the part where it was stated.”
Asked if he saw any document where Fayose had acknowledged receipt of any amount of Dollars from Obanikoro, the witness said: ” No”.
Under cross-examination by counsel to the 1st defendant, Ola Olanipekun, SAN, the witness confirmed his earlier evidence that the sum of N4.6 billion was transferred by Dasuki to one Sivan Macnamara.
Explaining how the transfer was done, he said it was done by the Office of the NSA from its imprest account to Macnamara’s Diamond Bank account.
However, when Olanipekun put it to him that he said payment was made from NSA to Macnamara and that part of the money was meant to be transferred to the first defendant, he kicked, saying, “I never said transfer; I said it was meant for the first defendant.”
At that point, the defence counsel sought to know if the witness investigated why the transfer was not made to the first defendant and if the funds were meant for him.
In his response, he said: “Questions were asked and investigations showed that it was meant to disguise the source of the money; so, it was given by cash to avoid traces”.
The trial will continue on July 19, 2024, and on October 17 and 18, 2024.
