The Chairman Emeritus of Daar Communication, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, has told the Federal High Court that he only offered himself to launder the battered image of the country through the Presidential Media Initiative.
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While denying any wrongdoing in the N2.1 billion fraud case filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Dokpesi has so far tendered 67 documents in defence of his case.
He told the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, that he was only deploying this professionalism in the media world to redeem the battered image of the country.
Meanwhile, his trial has been adjourned to March 18 for continuation.
In his evidence in chief, the media mogul, who was led by his counsel Mike Ozekhome, SAN, denied any wrongdoing as it bordered on the charge of procurement fraud and breach of public trust to the tune of N2.1 billion slammed against him.
The EFCC on February 17, 2016, re-arraigned Dokpesi before Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on a six-count charge bordering on alleged procurement fraud and breach of public trust to the tune of N2.1 billion.
Dokpesi, who was arraigned alongside his firm DAAR Investment and Holdings Ltd, is alleged to have received N2.1 billion from the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) between October 2014 and March 2015, which was used for the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) presidential media campaign.
He told the court, however, that services were rendered to the Office of the National Security Adviser.
He stated that due to the difficulties that Nigeria encountered externally and internally through acts of insurgency and allied crimes, it was imperative to have in place a presidential media initiative which amongst several reasons was necessary to help curb insurgency in the country.
This, he stated, was why he was invited to the office of the National Security Adviser to help launder the image of the country using his media expertise.
Dokpes said that initiative which was adopted by the Gen. Sani Abacha’s administration was also accepted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo who personally signed and endorsed the initiative as being beneficial to Nigeria.
He also mentioned that it was adopted and accepted eight years later by Late President Umaru Yaradua, and passed on to the Minister of Information, Dora Akinyuli, at the time.
Dokpesi said that the content and way to go about the initiative have been submitted repeatedly since 1995.
He corrected an allegation by the prosecution that the statement he gave to the EFCC, which includes the breakdown of the presidential media initiative that he presented to the president, was hurriedly put together.
Prosecution counsel Rotimi Jacob, SAN, asked Ozekhome to desist from making the witness read out evidence in court; Ozekhome insisting that there was a need for it because the evidence presented to the court was necessary and that the witness had every right to defend himself against whatever evidence was presented to the court.
Meanwhile, 67 documents were tendered as evidence showing transactions between DAAR Communications and its clients from the year 2014, 2015, 2016, urging the court to uphold the documents, as they are very crucial in the matter.
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