How Taraba LG Funds Were Misused During Gov Ishaku’s Time - Witness

A witness in court on Monday shared how Taraba State’s Local Government subvention funds were moved into a company’s account during former Governor Darius Ishaku's time. The case is being heard at the FCT High Court in Maitama.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting former Governor Ishaku and Bello Yero, who was the Permanent Secretary for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs. They are facing charges for diverting about N27 billion meant for the state and local governments.

Mr Ishaku was in charge of Taraba State from May 2015 to May 2023. He and Yero face 15 counts of misusing public funds, conspiracy, and breach of trust involving N27 billion.

Taiwo Jones, the third witness and an assistant cashier with the state government, said he received around N600 million to N700 million from Gassol LG into P3 Cornerstone Nigeria Limited. He mentioned that he also got funds from other local governments but didn’t provide a total amount.

In his testimony led by prosecution lawyer Rotimi Jacobs, who is a Senior Advocate, Mr Jones said the money was “part of local government subvention.” He did not explain what the subvention was specifically for, which is usually a grant from the government for a special purpose.

When asked about the total he received from Gassol LG, he said, “It will be around N600 million to 700 million approximately. I don’t have my calculator.”

In June, Mr Jones talked about how he received Taraba State local government funds into his company’s account and distributed the money as instructed by Mr Yero. He mentioned that he ran a company, P3 International, which he used for farming before he became an assistant cashier.

He confirmed that he received N1.8 billion through his company’s account on Mr Yero’s orders for distribution to others. On Monday, he explained how he got about N700 million from local governments between 2019 and 2021.

Mr Jacobs asked the witness to look at a letter from United Bank for Africa (UBA) about local government fund transfers. This was checked against the account statement from P3 Cornerstone. The witness showed that money from the LGs was received in his company’s account on the same dates. Some funds were also sent to an account named ‘Seven per cent Emirates and Traditional Councils’ account.

Mr Jones said that following Mr Yero’s instructions, he either transferred the money to Prince Onwuzurike or withdrew some to give to Mr Yero along with Dare Lawal. Messrs Lawal and Onwuzurike had earlier testified as the first and second prosecution witnesses.

They spoke about their roles in the disbursement of the funds that led to the EFCC charging the former governor and his co-defendant. Mr Lawal, the first witness, worked for Mr Ishaku’s private business before becoming his personal assistant and testified for most of last year.

He detailed how he collected and distributed money from various state officials, including Mr Yero, on behalf of Mr Ishaku. Mr Onwuzurike, the second witness, mentioned his relationship with Mr Yero and how he withdrew money on Mr Yero’s orders.

Mr Jones’ testimony revealed more about how he received the money. He listed the funds he got into his company’s account from 2019 to 2021. For instance, on 11 October 2019, Yorro LG transferred N50 million into P3 Cornerstone Nigeria Limited’s account. He said he gave all the money to Messrs Yero and Lawal.

He added that the company got N58.5 million on 25 October 2019, which was later sent to Mr Onwuzurike. Gassol LG also made two deposits of over N64.9 million and N1.4 million to P3 Cornerstone. He said, “most of the money was transferred to Seven per cent Emirates and Traditional Councils account.”

He confirmed that Ardo Kola LG sent N55 million to the company’s account on 28 November 2019. He also mentioned that Gassol LG sent N62 million. Zing LG transferred N70 million and N11.3 million from Yorro LG into P3 Cornerstone’s account.

The witness reported the money received to Babagida Hassan, who was then the Director of Finance. He said Hassan sometimes gave him instructions on how to handle the funds. Mr Jones mentioned he never received any queries for not delivering the funds sent to his company.

Later, Mr Jacobs presented Mr Jones’ EFCC statement and personal account statement from UBA. The trial judge, Slyvanus Oriji, postponed the matter until Tuesday (6 October) for the trial to continue.