Alex Enumah in Abuja
A defence witness in the ongoing trial of the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, has told a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja that Metuh personally made efforts to verify the source of the N400m he got from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in respect of the payment for publicity for both the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) and then president Goodluck Jonathan.
The witness, Colet Odenigbo, a former US Naval Officer and a consultant to the office of the PDP spokesman, made the disclosure on Tuesday before Justice Okon Abang while giving his testimony as the Second Defence Witness (DW 2).
Metuh and his company, Destra Investments Limited, are been prosecuted by the federal government on seven counts of alleged N400m fraud and money laundering.
The EFCC accused the defendants of fraudulently receiving from the Office of the National Security Adviser in November 2014 the sum of N400m meant for procurement of arm.
It also accused Metuh of money laundering involving offences $2m cash transaction.
The prosecution alleged that part of the N400m received from the ONSA was used by Metuh to fund the PDP’s presidential campaign for the 2015 election in which Jonathan was the party’s candidate.
At the resumed hearing yesterday, Odenigbo said he accompanied Metuh to honour the invitation to meet with a panel of the ONSA, where it was agreed that he would be paid N400 million to fund the party’s campaign activities for the 2015 general elections.
Odenigbo, told the court when led in evidence by Metuh’s counsel, Emeka Etiaba (SAN) that Metuh, in that meeting, “asked the ONSA meeting of the source of the payment for the funding of the PDP’s campaign activities, he was not told, rather, they said they will get back to him, which they never did until he (Metuh) was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)”.
He added that Metuh further told the ONSA panel that he will refund the money if he (Metuh) finds out that the source of the money is not from the campaign fund of the party.
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