A prosecution witness on Tuesday confirmed to the FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja, that his bank statement and personal record showing the funds receipts from Taraba State Government officials and distribution to various beneficiaries did not feature former Governor Daruis Ishaku’s name. Instead, the witness, a former personal assistant to Mr Ishaku, said the name of the former governor’s company, Worthy Construction Limited, appeared on the documents.
Ismail Lawal, a former personal assistant to Mr Ishaku and the first prosecution witness in the N27 billion fraud case against the former governor, gave the details under cross-examination by the former governor’s defence lawyer.
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“The first defendant’s (Mr Ishaku) name did not appear on the account’s statement, but there was a transaction to Worthy Construction Limited,” said the witness, who started testifying in January as a prosecution witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
EFCC is prosecuting the former governor alongside Bello Yero, a former Permanent Secretary of the state’s Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, for criminal breach of trust, conspiracy, and fraudulent conversion of public funds to the tune of N27 billion.
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One of the charges accused the defendants of diverting money from the state coffers to Mr Ishaku’s company, Worthy Construction Limited, which the prosecution witness mentioned in his Tuesday’s testimony.
Specifically count 15 accused the former governor of diverting over N700 million to “defray the loan of one billion Naira granted by Zenith Bank Plc. to your company, Worthy Construction Limited.”
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.
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In July, the witness detailed how he ran errands of distributing money on behalf of Mr Ishaku during his time as governor.
He told the court on 30 September how he received millions from various officials of the state government on behalf of Mr Ishaku, including the second defendant in the case, Mr Yero, who was the Permanent Secretary of the state’s Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, and Emmanuel Ifun, the then-Director of Finance, Taraba State Government House.
Since Mr Lawal started taking the stand in January, his testimony has dwelt heavily on a notebook in which he claimed to have recorded funds he allegedly received and distributed to various beneficiaries on behalf of the then-governor.
Transfer for security purposes
During Tuesday’s cross-examination by Mr Ishaku’s lawyer, Eko Ejembi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the witness also testified on the purposes of the transfers recorded in his notebook.
“Some are for security, while some are also for other people,” he said.
When referred to some pages of the notebook, he said there were details of transfers to the State Security Service (SSS), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Permanent Secretary, the Inspector General of Police, NASA, and SA Security Southern Zone.
Thereafter, the judge, Oriij Sylvanus, adjourned the case till Wednesday for the continuation of the cross-examination of the witness.
Speaking of the notebook in his 30 September testimony, Mr Lawal told the court that it was neither a government record nor a banking record, but said it “is strictly” between him and the former governor.
“Any money I received, I recorded it here. It is a record book between me and His Excellency. I kept the record, and His Excellency verified it,” he added, but admitted that the entries were not countersigned by those he collected monies from.
He also said the instructions from the former governor regarding the funds were verbal. He added that Mr Ishaku sometimes gave the instructions “through text messages and sometimes through writing on paper.”
Charges
In September 2024, EFCC arrested and charged Mr Ishaku.
The former governor and his co-defendant were arraigned before the FCT High Court on 30 September.
EFCC alleged in charges that, at various times, Mr Ishaku, diverted billions of naira from the contingency funds belonging to the state’s Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and certain local governments of the states into their private uses. The total amounts allegedly diverted summed up to N27 billion.
The commission alleged that the defendants committed the offences of criminal breach of trust and misappropriation while Mr Ishaku served as governor. At the time, Mr Yero, the former governor’s co-defendant, was also said to be the Permanent Secretary of the state’s Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
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