Breaking: Alleged N400m fraud: Metuh asks court to summon Jonathan as witness

Former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to summon former President Goodluck Jonathan to appear before it to give evidence in his ongoing criminal trial.

Metuh is answering to a seven-count charge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, preferred against him and his firm, Destra Investment Limited.

The anti-graft agency alleged that the defendants had before the 2015 presidential election, received N400million from the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, without executing any contract. It said the fund which was released to Metuh and his firm by the erstwhile NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki, retd,‎ ‎was part of about $2.1billion earmarked for the purchase of arms to fight insurgency in the North East. FG has already closed its case against the defendants after it produced eight witnesses before the trial court.

However, Metuh, who has already opened his defence, earlier pleaded the court to order the Department of State Service, DSS, to produce the former NSA, Dasuki, to mount the witness box.

He maintained that Dasuki was a key element in the charge against him, saying his appearance was critical for the case of the defendants since he was the one that released the money on the order of the former President. Meantime, at the resumed hearing on the matter, Monday, Metuh’s lawyer, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, informed the court about the decision of his client to apply for a subpoena to be issued to ex-President Jonathan to compel his presence in court to give evidence about the alleged N400million fraud. Metuh’s lawyer told the court that Jonathan snubbed a letter his chambers wrote to him with respect to the matter. More details soon.