A prosecution witness, brought to a Jos High Court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Habila Dung Gwom, to testify in the ongoing corruption trial of the immediate past Governor of Plateau State and Senator representing Plateau North, Jonah Jang, has turned around to accuse the EFCC of putting him under pressure to make statements that he would not have willingly made.
Gwom said, “I don’t even know what to say; I made the statements voluntarily, but I was under serious pressure, having been kept in detention for about a week. The pressure was much that I said some things that I shouldn’t have said, but because of the pressure on me; like the bank statement.”
The witness who was a Permanent Secretary Security served under Jang’s administration from December, 2014 to September, 2015 had been under cross-examination by Counsel to the Senator, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN).
His testimonies and document presented to the court during cross-examination revealed withdrawal from the state government accounts for security purposes from the Jang administration down to Governor Simon Lalong’s administration, during which he also served briefly before he was retired, followed similar pattern where several tranches of N10 million were withdrawn on same.
The retired Permanent Secretary also revealed that records of such monies withdrawn for security purposes were not properly kept by him because that was the norm he met on ground when he resumed at the office.
He further explained that, after Jang left office, Lalong and his Secretary to the State Government (SSG) also raised several memos for withdrawals like it happened while Jang was Governor.
Against his initial testimony, Gwom said there was no time he personally witnessed that cash were taken to Jang, even as he did not also know how security monies were disbursed.
He said monies released and spent for security passed through normal processes, and indeed many departments that were not headed by the then Governor.
Presiding judge, Justice Daniel Longji thanked Ozekhome and the prosecution counsel, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) for their diligence during the four days of hearing of the case, adding that “we’ve been able to do much.”
Justice Longji then adjourned the matter to the 5th, 6th, and 7th of March, 2019 for continuation of cross-examination.
It would be recalled that the EFCC, on Monday, May 7, 2018, preferred a 12-count fraud charge against Senator Jang, for alleged misappropriation of over N6.3billion two months to the end of his tenure as governor in 2015.
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