How ONSA under Dasuki paid out security funds received from CBN, accountant general – EFCC witness

Former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki

A bank official on Tuesday gave details of security funds the Sambo Dasuki-led Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) received from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation in 2015, and how the funds were transferred to various beneficiaries.

Arhyel Mshelia, a compliance officer with Access Bank, testified before the FCT High Court in Maitama as the third prosecution witness in an over-a-decade-long N4.6 billion arms procurement fraud trial case involving Mr Dasuki.

Mr Mshelia narrated how the security funds made their ways into the accounts of Jabbama Ada Global Services, Jawas Multipurpose Ventures and Onile Nigeria Limited in 2015.

Mr Dasuki has been standing trial in the case since 2015 alongside former Sokoto State Governor Attahiru Bafarawa, his son Sagir Bafarawa, former Minister of State for Finance Bashir Yuguda, and Dalhatu Investment Limited.

Mr Dasuki and his co-defendants are facing 25 counts of misappropriation, criminal breach of trust and receiving stolen property.

The charges accuse them of diverting N4.6 billion from the NSA office’s account. The money was said to be meant for procurement of arms to firm up the offensive against Boko Haram terrorists during former President Goodluck Jonathan administration, between 2014 and 2015.

Going through the statement of the ONSA’s account on Tuesday, the witness informed the court that the former NSA, Mr Dasuki, and one Salisu Abdulmalik Shaibu used to be signatories to the account with Access Bank.

Arhyel said on 16 March 2015, there was an inflow credit of N500 million from the CBN; the amount was disbursed on 25 March, 2015.

Similarly, the account was credited with N5 billion on 10 April 2015. On 16 April 2015, N27 million and N400 million were sent to Jabbama Ada Global Limited.

The signatory to Jabbama Ada was Salisu Umar Garu, the witness said.

He also said Jabbama Ada received N500 million on 5 February 2015 and N1 billion on 16 April 2015 from the ONSA’s office.

From the Federation Allocation Account Committee’s (FAAC’s) account with the OAGF, the company received N38 million and N25 million on 6 and 7 January 2015, respectively and N55 million on 5 February 2015.

According to the witness, Onile Nigeria Limited, whose signatory is Tom Ikimi, received N200 million and N100 million from ONSA on 9 and 18 February 2015. Jawas Multipurpose Ventures also received N2 billion, he said.

During cross-examination by the defence, the witness said he did not know the purpose of the transactions. He also disclosed that Jabbama Ada was involved in general contracts, oil and gas, purchase and resale of lands and transport.

He also noted transfers to defence headquarters.

Fielding questions from Mr Yuguda and Dalhatu Investment Limited’s lawyer, James Olatoke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the witness said he did not know of any relationship between Jabbama Ada and his clients.

He also noted transfers from other individuals and companies aside from the ONSA and CBN.

Thereafter, the judge adjourned the case to 17 November.

The first prosecution witness, Hamza Abdullahi, who served as the second-in-command of the EFCC’s Special Task Force that investigated the alleged arms procurement fraud in the NSA office, had testified that N4.633 billion was traced to Dalhatu Investment Limited. He said Mr Sagir, the son of the former Sokoto governor, is the company’s sole account signatory.

The second prosecution witness, Mr Yusuf, had also testified that funds were released from the NSA office for the supply of security equipment but that the contracts were not executed.

He said that during the investigation, Mr Sagir brought a list showing how the funds were used.

The witness said the funds were used to sponsor pilgrimage to Mecca and partly used for the 2015 political campaigns of the then-ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He listed the recipients of the funds to include Sheikh AbdurRahman Al-Sudais Foundation (N500 million), belonging to former Governor Bafarawa, and 2015 Sokoto PDP governorship candidate, Abdallah Wali, who allegedly received N580 million through a company.

The case is one of the twin arms procurement fraud matters filed against Mr Dasuki and his co-defendants over the streams of funds he released from NSA office accounts between 2014 and 2015.

In the other trial, the EFCC is prosecuting Mr Dasuki, a retired colonel, alongside a former General Manager at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aminu Baba-Kusa; Acacia Holdings Limited; and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited on 32 counts of fraud involving diversion of N33.2 billion arms funds entrusted to the NSA office.

In March, the EFCC re-arraigned the defendants on criminal breach of trust, among other charges, following the reassignment of the case that started in 2015 to a new judge, Charles Agbaza.

The defendants denied all charges as they did when they were first arraigned in 2015.

The two cases suffered multiple adjournments in their early years, largely due to the State Security Services (SSS) refusing to release Mr Dasuki on bail despite multiple court orders.

Mr Dasuki served as NSA between 2012 and 2015, at the height of Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria’s North-east, during the administration of then-President Goodluck Jonathan.

An audit panel set up by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, who came to office after defeating Mr Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election, revealed that about $2 billion entrusted to the office of the NSA, then led by Mr Dasuki, for procurement of arms could not be accounted for.

The EFCC, which instituted multiple charges against diverse persons who received funds from the NSA office, alleged that the arms funds were doled out to friends, relatives, political allies, particularly members of the PDP, for purposes unrelated to the purchase of arms.