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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
An Abuja High Court, yesterday, heard how Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Mr. Danladi Yakubu Umar met severally in his chambers with an accused person, Mr. Rasheed Taiwo Owolabi, a retired deputy comptroller-general of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) who was standing trial before him on false assets declaration charges.
Former Personal Assistant to the CCT Chairman, Mr. Ali Gambo Abdullahi, revealed this to the court, when he gave evidence in the trial within trial, on the disputed statement he made to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in respect of a N10 million bribe allegedly demanded by the CCT Chairman from the accused person in order to strike out the charges against him.
Abdullahi, who was cross-examined by EFCC counsel, Mr. Andrew Akoja, told Justice Chizobia Oji that it was at the end of the last meeting between the accused person and the CCT chairman that N1.8 million was paid into his account by Owolabi.
However, contrary to his statement on August 12, 2013, that the N1.8 million was part of the N10 million bribe meant for the CCT chairman, the witness said the money was deposited into his Zenith Bank account by Owolabi to offset the medical bill of his ailing father. The witness further told the court that he never met with the former Deputy Comptroller-General of the Customs until he started visiting the CCT chairman in the course of his trial and that the money was paid to him immediately after the last visit to the CCT boss.
Confronted with the statement where he implicated the CCT Chairman on the N10 million bribery saga, Abdullahi said his first statement was made under duress and based on inducement promised him by two operatives of EFCC, Abdulmajeed Ibrahim and Bala Mohammed, who investigated the petition of the ex-customs man in the matter.
Further cross-examined by the EFCC counsel, the witness, who read out some portions of the statement, identified his signature and admitted that he signed the statement and an attestation that he made the statement freely and voluntarily.
Earlier, Abdullahi had told the court that he was a protocol officer at CCT when he was employed in 2009 and later became Personal Assistant to the chairman.
He told the court that he got to know the former Customs officer during his numerous visits to his boss, and that, in the last visit, the said Taiwo met him with sympathisers on the plight of his father, as a result of which he made the payment of N1.8 million to enable him take care of his ailing father.
The witness said on August 12, 2013 he was invited to EFCC office in Abuja, where he was confronted with a petition from the said Rasheed Owolabi Taiwo on the alleged N10 million bribery deal, and he made a statement same day and was allowed to go home on administrative bail, with a condition to be visiting EFCC twice a week pending the completion of investigation.
He said the following day, two directors from CCT followed him to EFCC to perfect his bail condition and in the course of his several visits to EFCC, he made several statements in addition to that of August 12, 2013.
The witness said the additional statement, where he exonerated the CCT Chairman, was the true reflection of what transpired on the N10 million bribe and not his first statement of August 12, where he implicated the CCT boss as beneficiary of the N1.8 million bribe.
Meanwhile, the trial judge, Justice Chizobia Oji, has adjourned adoption of addresses in the matter till October 20, 2016.
It would be recalled that the witness had been arraigned before the court on charges of giving false information but his denial of his first statement on the bribery issue prompted the trial within trial by Justice Oji to determine his claim of duress before admitting the statement in evidence as exhibit.
