Jonathan Approved N359m, Turaki Released N200m for Security Meetings – Witness
Umar Tahir, aide to Former President Goodluck Jonathan, has told the Federal High Court in Abuja how a former Minister of Labour, Tanimu Turaki, released N200m out of N359m approved by the then President to organize a security sensitisation programme across the country.
Tanimu Turaki, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, presided over the Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs from 2013 to 2015 and served as the Supervising Minister of Labour from 2014 to 2015 in the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
Testifying on Tuesday, Tahir disclosed that due to the shortage in the funds released, the programme that was planned to be organised in each of the 19 northern states and six geopolitical zones of the country could only be executed in the North-West zone, South-south zone, Abuja, Kaduna and Kano states.
The witness, who was led in evidence by EFCC’s counsel Mohammed Abubakar, said part of the advice he offered Jonathan was to let his office organize “a sensitisation town hall meetings across the 19 states and the six geopolitical zones which the Vice President and top members of the government would attend “.
He said he raised a memo on June 30, 2014, in which he enumerated how he planned the programme and indicated the needs for funds to be released to organize it.
“But as a Senior Special Assistant to the President, I did not have ministerial accounts.
“So, I was asked to liaise with the Ministry of Special Duties so that the money would be sent to him and he would then send it to me.
“The President in his minute on my memo gave his approval through the Vice President and my office.
Tahir said he subsequently held meetings with Turaki after, which he sent a budget of N359m for the programme to the minister on September 2, 2014.
“In January 2015, the President granted the approval that the Minister of Finance should release N359m for the programme”, he said.
The witness however, alleged that out of the N359m approved by the President, only N200m was released to him.
According to him of the N200m, the sum of N150m was paid to me in three tranches of N50m each in January 2015 via an account he submitted to the minister.
He said he collected the balance of N50m in cash from the ex-minister’s aide.
He said it was when he was invited by the EFCC to shed light into the transactions that he was told that the total sum of N359m was released to the minister.
“I gave EFCC copies of the cheques I issued for the disbursement of the money released to me. I said it was only N200m that was released to me. They said the complete N359m was released to the minister, but he only gave me N200m.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on May 4, 2020 arraigned Turaki alongside his former Special Assistant, Sampson Okpetu, and two firms – Samtee Essentials Limited and Pasco Investment Limited, on 16 counts of money laundering totalling about N845m stolen from the two ministries.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, however, adjourned till September 21, 2020 for the cross examination of the witness.
