The former Senor Special Assistant to former President Goodluck
Jonathan, Dr Doyin Okupe, told Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja on
Wednesday that Jonathan confirmed to him that he gave the sum of N400
million to Chief Olisa Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP.
He said the amount was
to enable Metuh carry out the much desired image and pulbic perception
enhancement for the former President before his public declaration ahead of the
2015 general election.
Okupe, who stated this
while testifying in the trial of Metuh on allegations of receiving the sum of
N400m from the office of former NSA Sambo Dasuki, told the court that Jonathan
released the sum to Metuh following his (Metuh’s) presentation on ways to shore
up the dwindled image of the former president preparatory for the official
launch of his campaign.
He said Metuh and his
team made a presentation alongside other consultants in a meeting attended by
members of the Presidential Campaign Council including the president himself,
his Vice, Namadi Sambo, the former National Chairman of the party, Adamu
Mu'azu, former Senate President, David Mark, and former governors Liyel Imoke
and Peter Obi among others.
Led in evidence by Onyechi
Ikpeazu, the lead defence counsel, Okupe said “Yes, around that time (November
2014) there was very deep concern in the Presidency and the government about
the perception of Mr President and his administration, negative perception by
the Nigerian public. This also included some perceived ineffectiveness of the
administration and also a wrong perception in some parts of the country about
the role of government and its actions or activities concerning the very
security situation in the country then.
“Therefore, in
government, there was a general feeling that some actions needed to be taken
urgently to address these issues, especially because of the coming elections.
“It was in the course of
my discussion with Mr President when I also expressed my own personal concerns
too that he informed me that Chief Olisah Metuh had some suggestions and that
he (Jonathan) had instructed him to bring a proposition on what he considered
needed to be done and that when this is done, he would inform me so that we can
go through it together.
“Shortly after that, I
was invited to a meeting in the State house where Chief Metuh in company of
some consultants made presentations to the president. After the presentations,
there were comments form those in attendance to add or improve in certain areas
where they felt was important. The presentation was approved for action and the
President said Mr. Metuh will be given part of the money that was in budget for
the execution of the project.
On how he knew that the
Jonathan gave Metuh the money, Okupe said:
“Yes, I know from two
sources. First was the President himself who told me that he had instructed
that Chief Metuh be mobilised. And that was during breakfast with Mr. President
one morning. He told me that he had instructed that Chief Metuh be mobilised
with N400 million. The following day, very early in the morning, I got a call
from Chief Metuh who told me that he has received N400 million from the
President.
Under cross-examination
by EFCC counsel Sylvanus Tahir, the witness denied knowledge that the former
NSA was the source of the money.
"I have seen the
payment mandate from the office of the former NSA to Destra but this thing does
not make any meaning to me. I want you to explain what is. I have already
stated that the President confirmed to me that he gave the N400 million to
Metuh.
He said as the leader of
the party and its presidential candidate, the president enjoys tremendous
goodwill, which was demonstrated at the fundraising ceremony organised at the
Villa before the election where the sum of N21 billion, and sums from other
private sources where raised.
“The president uses his
tremendous goodwill, which he has, to assist his party or help to execute special
programmes that are aimed at improving the fortunes the party and the
government. It is natural that such payments (Metuh's) would have come from the
various amounts of money he has received as donations towards his campaign”, he
said.
Okupe further told the
court that upon being mobilized, Metuh assembled a very large committee of
various people, including media experts who he said did quite substantial
amount of work, some of which were security related while others had to do with
the image of the President and the government.
Justice Okon Abang adjourned
the case to Thursday.
