Metuh, who is testifying as a defence witness in his trial, argued that, as against the prosecution’s claim, he believed the money came from Jonathan for the publicity activities he carried out for the Federal Government just before the last general elections.
The former spokesman of the PDP and a company linked to him – Destra Investment Limited – are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on a seven-count charge of money laundering.
They are accused of fraudulently receiving the N400m “when they reasonably ought to know” that the money was part of the proceeds of alleged criminal act of the then National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki.
Metuh is equally charged with engaging in cash transaction to the volume of $2m without going through a financial institution, an act the prosecution claimed violated the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act.
On Tuesday, Metuh, who was led in evidence by his lawyer, Emeka Etiaba (SAN), gave a rundown on his activities prior to the 2015 general elections.
Metuh said he engaged a media consultant, Yomi Badejo, with who he made a presentation at the Presidential Villa, before then-President Jonathan and some others, on a media project intended at boosting the image of the government in relation to the fight against insurgency.
The ex-PDP spokesman, who claimed Jonathan was impressed with his proposal, said the former President called him on phone and requested for what the cost of the project was which he provided.
He said Jonathan later called him to inform him that his account had been credited with N400m.
When asked by Etiaba if he bothered to investigate the source of the money, Metuh, said, “How can I make an inquiry into the source of the money when I already knew the source of the money?
“I know the money came from the President as the leader of the party and on assurance that funds were raised personally by him at that time.
“It is normal for the leader of the party or a candidate in an election to send money directly as contributions were mostly made directly to him by friends.
“The leader of the party informed me that he had made a payment of N400m into my account,” Metuh said.
On whether he got an alert or statement of account disclosing the source of the money, Metuh said he only saw the statement of his account after the N400m transaction, on January 5, 2016, while he was in the detention of the EFCC.
Metuh added before the payment of the money in his account, he had not received any alert about the transaction from his bank, but that when Jonathan called him about the payment, he immediately called his account officer for confirmation of the payment.
Trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, adjourned till March 4 for continuation of Metuh’s testimony, but said trial would not be day-to-day from then on.
The post Jonathan Gave Me N400m, Metuh Insists appeared first on LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS BREAKING HEADLINES NEWSPAPERS.
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