The third prosecution witness (PW3) in the ongoing trial of former Taraba State Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku and another defendant before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Taiwo Jones, on Wednesday told the court that he never received any instructions on financial transactions from the former governor.
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Ishaku, who governed Taraba State between 2015 and 2023, and a former Permanent Secretary of the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the state, Bello Yero, are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Sylvanus Oriji, sitting in Maitama, Abuja, on a 15-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust, conspiracy and conversion of public funds amounting to ₦27 billion.
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge, marked FCT/HC/CR/792/2024, brought against them by the anti-corruption commission on behalf of the Federal Government.
At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, Jones confirmed during cross-examination by Ishaku’s counsel, Chris Umar, SAN, that he had neither a personal nor a social relationship with the former governor, who, he said, did not work with the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
According to PW3, “The first defendant (Ishaku) was not working with the Bureau. He never gave me any instructions.
“I don’t have any personal or social relationship with the first defendant.”
He affirmed that the alleged funds were transferred through his personal and company accounts, although he said he could not confirm the total amount that passed through them.
Jones, who told the court that he had a master’s degree in accounting and was also a qualified chartered accountant, said there were civil service and accounting rules and procedures, adding that he could not deliberately act contrary to them.
He further told the court that the receipt and disbursement of money through his accounts were based on directives from his superiors at the Bureau of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, including the second defendant, Bello Yero, the Permanent Secretary, Hassan Babangida, and the Chief Cashier, John Columba.
The witness said that when making payments to emirs and chiefs, he usually prepared a list, which he described as a sub-receipt, for the recipients to sign “to confirm they received the money.”
According to him, the salaries of emirs and chiefs were paid directly into their respective accounts. He added that “we only paid those who paid courtesy visits to His Excellency (Ishaku).”
He told the court that he used to hand over funds to Babangida and the Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in the state, adding, “I didn’t hand over money to the second defendant but to Dare (Lawal), but he (Yero) was always there to confirm.”
Jones further told the court that he used to drive Yero to the Governor’s Office at the Government House in Jalingo but would drive away because of congestion in the parking lot. He said that when the second defendant was done, he would call him to return and pick him up.
“Whenever I drove him (to Government House), we always did so with a Ghana-Must-Go bag. Whenever he finished, he normally called me to come and pick him,” Jones told the court.
He admitted that he was never with the second defendant inside the Government House, where, he said, there were many government functionaries.
“I never followed the second defendant into the Governor’s Office. I was not inside the Governor’s Office with him. I wouldn’t know if the funds taken to Government House were used to pay some people,” he said.
Jones, however, admitted that beyond being colleagues in the civil service, he and the second defendant had business dealings, having co-founded Octopus Farms Nigeria Limited, whose bank account lists both men as signatories.
“I know the company called Octopus Farms Nigeria Limited. I am aware that it has an account with UBA (United Bank for Africa). The signatories to the account are myself and the second defendant. I made deposits and withdrawals from the account.
“Beyond civil service, I am a business partner with the second defendant, and that was before I joined the civil service,” the prosecution witness told the court.
Meanwhile, Justice Oriji adjourned the case to Thursday, October 22, for the continuation of the cross-examination of PW3.
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