The former Senor Special Assistant to former
President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr Doyin Okupe,
told Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja on
Wednesday that Jonathan confirmed to him that
he gave the sum of N400 million to Chief Olisa
Metuh, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP.
He said the amount was to enable Metuh carry
out the much desired image and pulbic
perception enhancement for the former President
before his public declaration ahead of the 2015
general election.
Okupe, who stated this while testifying in the
trial of Metuh on allegations of receiving the
sum of N400m from the office of former NSA
Sambo Dasuki, told the court that Jonathan
released the sum to Metuh following his
(Metuh’s) presentation on ways to shore up the
dwindled image of the former president
preparatory for the official launch of his
campaign.
He said Metuh and his team made a
presentation alongside other consultants in a
meeting attended by members of the
Presidential Campaign Council including the
president himself, his Vice, Namadi Sambo, the
former National Chairman of the party, Adamu
Mu'azu, former Senate President, David Mark,
and former governors Liyel Imoke and Peter Obi
among others.
Led in evidence by Onyechi Ikpeazu, the lead
defence counsel, Okupe said “Yes, around that
time (November 2014) there was very deep
concern in the Presidency and the government
about the perception of Mr President and his
administration, negative perception by the
Nigerian public. This also included some
perceived ineffectiveness of the administration
and also a wrong perception in some parts of
the country about the role of government and its
actions or activities concerning the very security
situation in the country then.
“Therefore, in government, there was a general
feeling that some actions needed to be taken
urgently to address these issues, especially
because of the coming elections.
“It was in the course of my discussion with Mr
President when I also expressed my own
personal concerns too that he informed me that
Chief Olisah Metuh had some suggestions and
that he (Jonathan) had instructed him to bring a
proposition on what he considered needed to be
done and that when this is done, he would
inform me so that we can go through it
together.
“Shortly after that, I was invited to a meeting in
the State house where Chief Metuh in company
of some consultants made presentations to the
president. After the presentations, there were
comments form those in attendance to add or
improve in certain areas where they felt was
important. The presentation was approved for
action and the President said Mr. Metuh will be
given part of the money that was in budget for
the execution of the project.
On how he knew that the Jonathan gave Metuh
the money, Okupe said:
“Yes, I know from two sources. First was the
President himself who told me that he had
instructed that Chief Metuh be mobilised. And
that was during breakfast with Mr. President one
morning. He told me that he had instructed that
Chief Metuh be mobilised with N400 million. The
following day, very early in the morning, I got a
call from Chief Metuh who told me that he has
received N400 million from the President.
Under cross-examination by EFCC counsel
Sylvanus Tahir, the witness denied knowledge
that the former NSA was the source of the
money.
"I have seen the payment mandate from the
office of the former NSA to Destra but this thing
does not make any meaning to me. I want you
to explain what is. I have already stated that the
President confirmed to me that he gave the
N400 million to Metuh.
He said as the leader of the party and its
presidential candidate, the president enjoys
tremendous goodwill, which was demonstrated
at the fundraising ceremony organised at the
Villa before the election where the sum of N21
billion, and sums from other private sources
where raised.
“The president uses his tremendous goodwill,
which he has, to assist his party or help to
execute special programmes that are aimed at
improving the fortunes the party and the
government. It is natural that such payments
(Metuh's) would have come from the various
amounts of money he has received as donations
towards his campaign”, he said.
Okupe further told the court that upon being
mobilized, Metuh assembled a very large
committee of various people, including media
experts who he said did quite substantial
amount of work, some of which were security
related while others had to do with the image of
the President and the government.
Justice Okon Abang adjourned the case to
Thursday.
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