Arms deal: Sambo's aide reveals how Metuh paid him N25m
- Olisa Metuh gave me 25million for PDP publicity, witness reveals
- The witness, Abba Doro said they commissioned writers to write and be paid to promote the government
- He said he gave EFCC the money when he realised it was part of the arms deal fund
Abba Dabo, former special adviser on political matters to Namadi Sambo, the former vice president, has disclosed how Olisa Metuh paid him 25million for the purpose of publicity for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), The Cable reports.
Dabo, who is the seventh witness to testify against Metuh, the spokesman of the PDP, said the money was given to him five days after the presidential nomination convention to fight criticisms against former president, Goodluck Jonathan in the traditional and social media.
He said: “On December 16, 2014, Metuh paid N25m through Destra Investment Limited account into my personal account for purposes of publicity for the PDP.
“When it became obvious that former president Goodluck Jonathan will run for office, government officials and party leaders started to meet to review the achievements of the government and prepare for the elections.”
According to him, it was found out during the course of the meeting that the PDP was getting negative publicity.
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“On my part, we set up a media support group and registered it as ‘Media Support System’ to do media work for the party. We commissioned writers to write and be paid to promote the government.
“We called it rapid response team, which was successful. It was its success that led to more meetings with Metuh. Social media was becoming more stringent in the criticism of the PDP,” the witness said.
Dabo explained that they set up a team of facilitators and young IT enthusiasts to run a website called, ‘What’s up Naija’ which they could not register because the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) wanted it to be ‘What’s up Nigeria.’
He stated that the money was returned to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) when he realised it was part of the $2.1billion funds meant for arms purchase but was allegedly diverted for other purposes by Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser (NSA).
“Because the money was linked to the controversial arms deal, I decided to return it. On my own accord, I decided the best way out of this rigmarole was to pay back the money. I paid it back to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),” Dabo said.
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Metuh is facing a seven-count charge of money laundering. The anti-graft agency is accusing Metuh of collecting the sum of N400m from the former national security adviser, Col Sambo Dasuki, who is at the centre of the arms deal scam.
Since the commencement of his trials, the prosecution led by Sylvanus Tahir has produced six witnesses who have all testified about the roles they played in the alleged transfer of funds from the former NSA to Destra Investiments Limited, a company owned by the embattled PDP spokesman.
Metuh who met his bail condition was released i
Source: Legit.ng
