Metuh insist Jonathan must testify, says he does not have N1bn to give former president

The trial of former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spokesman, Mr. Olisa Metuh, continued on Wednesday with him insisting that the court should sack erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan’s application against the subpoena issued to compel him (Jonathan) to appear as witness in the matter.

Metuh also told the Federal High Court, Abuja, before which he is being tried, that he did not have N1 billion which Jonathan had asked him to deposit with the court, in line with provisions of Section 241(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.

Jonathan’s lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), in making the N1 billion prayer, had told the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang to order Metuh to pay the money to cover for travelling expenses for himself and his security personnel from his home town, Otuoke in Bayelsa State, to Abuja and also for time that he might spend appearing before the court as President of Nigeria between 2010 to 2015.

According to Jonathan, the evidence Metuh is seeking from him would amount to an incursion into his personal right to privacy, and family life as provided for in Section 37 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

Among other things, Jonathan said that he had no doubtful that there was a contractual agreement between Metuh and the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, retd.

“The linchpin of this application is not that the former President is throwing doubts on transactions involving the defendants and Dasuki, but that he was not physically present when the transactions were going on, because he had many appointees.

“My lord, because of this, we are saying that he will not be a good witness to state what actually happened regarding the transactions. He can never be able to know details of transactions all his aides carried out within his over four years tenure in office.

“He is not saying that the transactions are fake or incorrect or fictitious, no! He is only saying that he does not know the details. Whatever evidence he will be giving based on the subpoena will amount to hearsay evidence,” Ozekhome said.

But in a five-paragraphed counter- affidavit moved by Metuh’s lawyer, Mr. Emeka Etiaba (SAN), he argued that Metuh does not have N1 billion to give Jonathan.

Drawing the attention of the court to the fact that the bailiff earlier deposed an affidavit that he had yet to serve the subpoena on Jonathan, Metuh asked the court to set aside Jonathan’s application.

He said, “This application is therefore not only speculative but premature and deserves to be struck out. With respect to demand for deposition of N1bn, the 1st defendant in his affidavit averred that he does not have such amount..

“We believe that such demand is punitive and meant to frustrate the 1st defendant’s attempt at obtaining evidence that will assist him in the defence of the charge against him before this court.

“It is the view of the 1st defendant that from the first day that he was arrested, he made it clear that the release of the money was authorised by the former President and was released by the former NSA, Dasuki.

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“My lord this application simply seeks to set aside the subpoena and to save this nation the embarrassment of having a man who means a lot to the entire country as a former President, to step into the dock to give evidence.

“My lord it is unprecedented, and the embarrassment could have been aborted if the charge against the 1st defendant was not preferred after he had disclosed to the EFCC the source of the fund for which the defendants are standing trial.

“My lord in the circumstance, it is our position that this application be struck out.”

Counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Sylvanus Tahir, meanwhile said that it would maintain indifferent to Jonathan’s application.

The court was still entertaining arguments from all the parties involved in the matter including Dasuki, who was eventually produced in court today by the Department of State Security (DSS) as at the time this story was filed.

Metuh and his firm, Destra Investment Ltd, were accused to have before the 2015 presidential election, received N400 million from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) without executing any contract.

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