A former special adviser to ex-VP Namadi Sambo, yesterday gave detailed reasons why he was forced to return money he collected from Olisa Metuh to the EFCC.
National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh
Mr. Abba Dabo who was paid N25million naira by the embattled National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh has given detailed reason why he was forced to return the money even after he had executed the job he was contracted for.
He made the revelation yesterday before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.
Dabo, a former Special Adviser to the ex-VP, Namadi Sambo, told the court that he quickly returned the money to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, after his name appeared in the list of those that benefited from the $2.1billion arms fund largesse because he does not want any trouble with the law.
Testifying before the trial court yesterday as the seventh prosecution witness, PW-7 Dabo, told the court that on December 16, 2015, the 1st defendant, gave him the N25m to assist him (Metuh) to intensify publicity for the re-election of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said that Metuh equally mandated him to publicise the campaign activities of the PDP with a view to ensuring that the party retained its hold on the presidential power.
He said: “When it became obvious that former President Goodluck Jonathan will run for a second term in office, government officials and party leaders started to meet to review the achievements of the government and prepare for the elections.
“In the course of those meetings, a lot of concern was shown in the opposition’s total control of the media. The PDP was getting negative publicity, and ministers were told to speak more to the press to enhance the image of the government.
“On my part, we set up a media support group and registered it as ‘Media Support System’ to do media work for the party. We commissioned writers to write and be paid to promote the government.
“We called it rapid response team which was successful. It was its success that led to more meetings with Metuh.
“As at then, the social media was becoming more stringent in the criticism of the PDP. Also, Hausa radio stations were vicious in the attack of the government and the party. Chief Metuh thought I could assist in mitigating this, that was why he gave me the N25m five days after the presidential nomination convention.
“With that money, we set up a team of facilitators and young IT enthusiasts to run a website called, ‘What’s Up Naija’, but we could not register it because the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, wanted it to be ‘What’s Up Nigeria”, the witness added.
He revealed that he was not aware of the source of the money but had task himself to cough out N25 million that was given to him by Metuh before returning it to the EFCC.
“It was in the newspaper that I saw that the money was part of the arms purchase deal. When the money was given to me, I did not know where it came from and I did not ask.
“I thought that Metuh got some funding from sources and I remember that he wrote a proposal to former President Jonathan on how to enhance the image of the PDP and by extension the federal government."