A prosecution witness, Air Commodore Saliu Abdullahi Yushau (rtd) on Wednesday informed the Federal High court in Abuja of how former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh diverted N1.1bn of the Nigerian Air Force for the purchase of a house in Maitama, Abuja.
Yushau was a Director of Finance and Accounting, Nigerian Airforce between October, 2010 to December 2013.
The witnessed told the court that in 2015, Badeh instructed him to look for a house in Maitama where he will retire to after service.
“Following his instruction, I informed Badeh of my friend who is into properties, by the name Barrister Useni Umar, and he asked me to go ahead. I contacted Umar and after a few days, he informed me of a property.
“One evening, in 2015, I can’t remember the exact day, Badeh and I searched for some properties and later selected the one at Ogun/Rivers Street in Maitama Abuja.
The witness noted that after a day or two, Umar informed him of the price of the house which was N1.1bn.
Yushau said he had earlier informed the court that the former CDS who directed that the money be paid said the money was part of the emolument meant for payment of Nigerian Air Force personnel salaries and allowance which” I normally take to his official residence in Niger barracks in dollar equivalent.”
“Sometime in January 2013, while taking the normal diverted fund to Badeh at his official residence, he instructed that the n1.1bn be paid for the apartment,
“I took the dollar equivalent of N1.1bn to Umar with the instruction to pay for the house.”
Yushau stated that after the sum was paid, Badeh instructed that his name should not appear on the tittle document.
“He gave me the name of a company that should appear on the title and I forwarded it to Umar and when the documents were ready, I gave them to him,” Yushau said.
Trial still in progress…
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