A permanent secretary in the Taraba State Ministry of Finance, Asabe Maiangwa, yesterday told an Abuja High Court how only N16 million was spent for the supply of stationery and office equipment, but the sum of N450 million was paid out by the state government during the tenure of former governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame.
Ms Maiangwa told the court how N450 million was paid out by the state government to several persons, out of which only N16 million was used for the supply of stationery and office equipment at the instance of the then commissioner of finance, Abubakar Umar Tutari.
At the resumed hearing of the case against Mr Nyame yesterday, Ms Maiangwa, who is being led in cross examination by prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, recounted how a whooping sum of N450 million was paid out from the state treasury for a phony contract.
The official, who corroborated a previous testimony of the accountant in the ministry, 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 included preparing the payment voucher and ensuring that the receipt was 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 commissioner of finance (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."
Orders from above
She further stated that she handed over the N16 million to the accountant for the purchase of the stationery through a local contractor, Baba Gambo.
The permanent secretary was further asked what she did when she discovered that the contract items were not supplied. She said she went to the commissioner of finance to ask him the purpose for the issuance of cheque to Salman Global Ventures Limited when the jobs were not done. She said the commissioner told her that he was given an instruction to that effect.
She was again asked if she knew who gave the commissioner the instruction; she answered in the affirmative. Before she could go further with her testimony, defence counsel, Charles Edosonwan, objected and said it was improper for the witness to give testimony based on ‘hearsay'.
"The only person who can do that is the commissioner of finance and no other person," Mr Edosonwan said.
This led to a protracted argument before the trial judge, Adebunkola Banjoko, who thereafter adjourned the case till October 5, 2011, for ruling and continuation of hearing.
But before the adjournment, the permanent secretary had also told the court that the commissioner of finance, after the payment of the various sums, gave her N8 million as a gift to be shared for the entire staff of the ministry.
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See how they share and loot the treasury. When will we move forward away from this visious cycle.
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