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N1.3bn fraud: How we paid N450m for N16m contract – PermSec

Maiangwa is the seventh prosecution witness in the prosecution of the former governor of Taraba State, Rev.Jolly Nyame is on trial on a charge of 41 count of money laundering, criminal breach of trust and gratification to the tune of N1.3 billion, while he reigned as governor of Taraba State .

When the hearing resumed yesterday the case that the witness was led by a lawyer in the prosecution evidence, Rotimi Jacobs, told how N450 million was paid to the Treasury for a contract can.

Maiangwa who corroborated the previous testimony of the Accountant in the ministry, Alhaji Naigari Umar, said she was in Kaduna for a seminar in 2005 when her secretary called her on phone to inform her that a cheque for the sum of N250 million was released from the office of the Accountant General to be paid through her ministry to Salman Global Ventures Ltd.

She said she directed the secretary to ensure the necessary documentation which includes preparing the payment voucher and ensuring that the receipt is signed before releasing the cheque.

“The secretary carried out my instruction and showed me the documents in the file. I endorsed the back of the receipt and passed the document back to the secretary and the file was returned to the dip, where we store files”, she told the court. Asked if the payment of the N250 million followed due process and if she knew what purpose the money was meant for, she said, “I was not around so I don’t know. But I did not see anything in the file to suggest that the job was done”.

Also asked to tell the court what she knew about the payment of N200 million by the state government in 2005, she said “In 2005, the Honourable commissioner of finance (Alhaji Abubakar Umar Tutari), met me and gave me a list with two names-Salman Global Ventures and the Deputy Speaker. He told me that the Accountant was going to bring a cheque from the Accountant General’s office and we should disburse it”.

She said she handed the note to the Accountant. “In the note, the Commissioner directed that the sum of N165 million should be paid to Salman Global Ventures, N15 million to the deputy speaker, Taraba State House of Assembly, N4 million to the P. A. to commissioner of finance and N16 million was for the purchase of the stationeries.

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