This Defence Witness did not know the Officers involved in the Purchase of
Grains, despite the fact that he worked in the Government House till June
2005.
Now, from all the above, certain facts come to light. It is clear that it was the
function of the Ministry of Agriculture to procure Grains on behalf of the
State, but in this peculiar circumstance, the Governor directed a Permanent
Secretary from the Liaison Office to prepare the Memo, which he approved
for processing. The Defendant sought to maintain a distance from his
Approval to the eventual purchase of the Grains but had known of certain
facts that belie this fact.
In the first instance, he knew Mr. Japheth Wubon purchased or executed the
Memo and then Viola! He suddenly recalled the Seller of the Grains was a
Trader from Lagos, paid in Cash. He alone knew this detail, as there was no
other corroborative testimony from all the records and from the Official in
the State. One thing was clear, there was No Delivery of the Rice either in
Abuja or in Jalingo because Officers who had to be in the know of this Supply
were ignorant of even the Purchase.
The Defendant needed to have explained in greater detail, WHO paid the
Supplier in Lagos; WHEN was this Payment made and HOW?
The evidence before the Court is that, the Money was delivered in Two
Trenches, that is, Fifteen Million Naira (N15, 000, 000) and then the balance.
So HOW the Supplier was paid became important.
In this instant, the Chief Accountant stated that anytime he made the trip to
the Defendant’s Bedroom, the Chief Steward would open the door and he
would call Mr. Aboki to notify him of the delivery of the Cash as ordered.
This raises a very strong presumption that the Defendant was not in the
Residence at the time and furthers demonstrates that his Orderly could also
not have been present at the Lodge.
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