Alleged N27bn Fraud: I collected monies from Taraba govt officials on Ishaku's behalf

A prosecution witness, Ismail Lawal, testified at the FCT High Court that he received money from several Taraba government officials solely at the instruction of former Governor Darius Ishaku, who is currently being prosecuted for corruption.

Mr Ishaku is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), alongside Bello Yero, former permanent secretary, Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the state.

The defendants were charged with 15 counts of criminal breach of trust, conspiracy and conversion of public funds to the tune of N27 billion.

They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Mr Lawal, while being cross-examined by the counsel to Mr Yero, Adeola Adedipe, used a notebook (admitted as an exhibit) to record all the funds he received and disbursed, claiming the record was strictly between him and the former governor, who, he said, verified the entries.

Mr Adedipe listed eight officials affiliated with Taraba State, including Mr Yero. Others include a permanent secretary, Chindo Audu; directors of finance, Galeya Godiya and Emmanuel Effun; personnel accountant, Haziel Bala; cashiers, Joel Gilenya and John Columbia; and senior local government inspector, Taiwo Jones.

Mr Lawal indicated he knew them all but was not involved in their personal lives.

“I don’t know their private lives,” he said, and “I don’t have the power to deal with them in my private capacity, it is above my power.”

“They were giving me the money on the instructions of the governor to deliver to him.

“I do not know where the money they were giving me was coming from,” he said.

Asked if he knew the purpose of the N40 million he wrote in his notebook, Mr Lawal said he didn’t know the purpose.

”Like I said, I only collected the money based on instructions from the former governor,” he said.

Mr Lawal previously worked for Mr Ishaku’s private business and later served as his personal assistant during his governorship. Mr Ishaku served two terms as Taraba State governor from May 2015 to May 2023.

Since Mr Lawal started taking the stand in January, he has testified on how he received millions from various officials of the state government, including Mr Yero, on behalf of Mr Ishaku.

On Thursday, he confirmed that one Jacklyn opened an account for him in Zenith Bank for the purpose of collecting money from Taraba government officials.

Earlier, while answering questions from Eko Ejembi, the counsel to Mr Ishaku, Mr Lawal told the court that Taraba is one of the states affected by insurgency and insecurity.

“I don’t know if the annual security vote of the former governor was over one billion Naira,” he told the court.

He denied knowledge of two accounts in Access Bank opened in his name.

“The Access Bank accounts are not known to me. Yes, my name is Ismail Oluwadamilare Lawal, but I don’t know about the accounts.”

He further told the court that he was investigated by the EFCC sometime in 2020.

He stated that his accounts with Zenith Bank were reviewed by the commission in the course of its investigations.

The witness told the court that he could not recall whether any property at Brains and Hammers estate was involved in the investigation, as stated in count 14 of the charge.

When asked about the details of his investigation by EFCC in 2020, pertaining to a property in Brains and Hammers estate, Mr Lawal said he could not recall.

One of the court charges accused Mr Ishaku of diverting over N23 million from the state coffers “to buy a Duplex property known as Apo 3, Abuja, from Brains and Hammers Limited.

Mr Ejembi then sought to tender a judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, regarding the immunity the former governor enjoyed while in office.

The prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, objected to the admissibility of the judgment.

Justice Slyvanius Oriji rejected the judgment on the grounds that it does not have any established nexus or link with the witness.

Mr Oriji adjourned the hearing until 8 December for its continuation.