A defence witness in the ongoing trial of the National Publicity
Secretary, People’s Democratic Party ( PDP ), Chief Olisa Metuh, yesterday
narrated how former President Goodluck Jonathan paid N400 million into Metuh’s
account.
The
witness, a columnist with The New Telegraph Newspaper, Mr. Ike Abonyi, told a
Federal High Court in Abuja that the former president had asked for Metuh’s
account details to enable him to transfer money for the image laundering of the
party and himself.
The
counsel to the first defendant, Tochukwu Onwubufo (SAN), had asked the court
for a short adjournment to enable him to study the brief. He said the
constitution still allows for adjournments, though not more than 30 days at a
time.
But
Justice Okon Abang said the application for adjournment orally made by the
counsel to the second defendant would not stop the day’s proceeding, which was
for the first defendant to open his defence.
Abang
said: “Having considered the oral application by counsel to the second
defendant as well as the argument by the prosecution counsel, I need to say
that I have decided that the only issue was the relevance of Section 3493 of
the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, which came as a new issue on his
application for adjournment.
“The
law is such that once the court has decided on an issue, no party can drag the
court back on the same issue. Having ruled that the second defendant was not
entitled to adjournment, I cannot reverse the decision and he cannot raise the
issue again before this court.
“Section
3493 should be read subject to Section 3492 and as such, the section cannot be
of assistance to the second defendant.
“However,
in the overall interest of justice, the court will take the interest of the
second defendant into consideration at the end of the proceedings.
“The
court will take the defence of the first defendant and later adjourn at the
instance of the second defendant”, the judge said.
At
that instance, the first defendant witness was called to the witness box. Abonyi
told the court that he was invited by Metuh to work with him as a public
relations consultant when it was obvious that the PDP needed to enhance its
image and that of its leadership.
According
to him, a consulting firm, CMC Connect was also engaged by Metuh for its skills
having worked for the party in the past.
“Metuh
had called to say that he was not a media man but his role as the national
publicity secretary entailed media and publicity and based on our existing
relationship, he would rely on me. That was what he did, consulting me on
issues of media and publicity”, Abonyi said.
He
went on: “Eventually, when it was time for the general election, Metuh
approached me at The New Telegraph and requested that he would need my
services, that he would like if I could come into the party as a consultant to
help him on the new challenge of improving the image of the party which he
said, was in a bad shape and by virtue of his position, all eyes were on him to
come up with strategies to boost the image of the party at the general
elections.
“The
consulting firm, CMC Connect also said it was willing to return but that the
party was owing it. The Managing Director, Yomi Badejo, said that if Metuh
would promise to help recover the debt, the company would be willing to work
with him. Metuh said there was no money then but he promised to get resources
from the party.
“That
was at the point I left The New Telegraph to join him for the purpose of that
new challenge. When I joined him, he told me that the CMC Connect would be
needed and I told him that CMC Connect was too expensive and that we should use
a smaller PR firm but he insisted on CMC Connect on the grounds that the
assignment was enormous and that he would rather go for the best.
“The
main consideration was the quality of their work. In addition to quality, the
party was owing the company and Metuh has promised to pay them whenever funding
came.
“Even
when I attempted at luring him out of the company, he said he had made a
commitment and would not want to default.We eventually called CMC Connect to
join other journalists and stakeholders.
“Chief
Metuh told us that the assignment given to him was also given to some other
professionals and that we should see it as a challenge and ensure our own
strategy would prevail in the choice of the party leadership and the former
president.
“The
team, anchored by CNC Connect rehearsed some strategies and after that, with
Metuh presiding over most of the meetings, we all agreed that we have a good
product to present. Chief Metuh then said we should wait for clearance from the
Presidency.
“One
afternoon, he came to me and said that he had received a call from the National
Chairman of the Party, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, that the president was ready for the
presentation.
“Other
members of the team were resident in Abuja except the M.D of CNC Connect, who
was based in Lagos. Badejo was asked to take the next available flight to Abuja
for the presentation. Because he was already expecting the appointment for the
presentation, he took the next available flight and got to Abuja about 6:00
p.m.
“Other
members of the team went in one vehicle while Metuh went in his car with the MD
of the consulting firm. When we arrived at the Villa, only Metuh’s car was
allowed to go in but he and Badejo waited for us at the security clearing room.
We were later ushered in to meet the president, vice president, Senate
president and national chairman of the party. Others are Liyel Imoke, Peter Obi
and some aids to the former president including Dr. Reuben Abati and Doyin
Okupe.
“MD
of CNC Connect was meant to speak for the team. After the presentation, the
former president requested comments from other members and after listening, he
said jokingly that we were too hard on him because virtually everybody that spoke
made it clear to him that his image was in bad shape and that he was not
helping matters with some of his actions.
“But
those around him said that the presentation should be put into action because
if it not was done before the election, it would be difficult to win the
election given the impression of the people at that time.
“The
president said that since it was the consensus of the people that Metuh and his
team did a better job, other teams should collapse into Metuh’s team.
“At
that point, Jonathan told Metuh that he had done a good job and that it should
be put into action. He told him to send his corporate account details to him in
order to mobilise him to start work”, he said.
On
his view about the funding of Metuh’s office, Abonyi said it came from the
party and its leadership, Jonathan. “After our presentation, we continued with
our work and the MD of CNC Connect returned to Lagos and we were waiting to
hear from Metuh on the financial aspect.
“One
afternoon, he told us that the president called him and said he should check
his bank, that some money had been paid”, Abonyi told the court.
There
was also a cross examination by the prosecution counsel, Sylvanus Tahir. At the
end of the day, the judge adjourned the trial till April 20 at the instance of
the second defendant for the cross-examination of the first defence witness as
well as the continuation of the trial.
Bookmia Online Books
No comments:
Post a Comment