Accountant General to pay, then evidence of this direction should have been
apparent on the face of the Memo, or at best, on the Payment Voucher.
This means that the Records of Payment of the Cheques to the Permanent
Secretary would have been evident, and the Accountant from the Accountant
General’s Office would have signed the Payment Vouchers.
From Documentary Evidence, it appears that the Hon. Commissioner of
Finance was bypassed in the Processing of these Funds, and if by Protocol,
he was to direct the Accountant General to pay, then it could only postulate
one of these two facts; either the instructions were passed by Mr. Dennis
Nev directly to the Accountant, or the Defendant as Governor, directly
passed the instruction to the Accountant. From all other Memos and
Vouchers before the Court, it was customary to see the Confirmation and
Signature of the Commissioner of Finance as well as the evidence of the
Cheque (s) for a particular transaction. This was a Rare Occurrence!!!
According to Mr. Nev, the Payment Vouchers serve as Authority to the Payee
to collect the Funds, but a careful perusal of each Payment Voucher in
ExhibitsO1, O2 and O3, show that the NAME and DESIGNATION of the
Payee and Collector of these Funds were conspicuously absent from the
Memos, making the recipient of the Funds anonymous. It was only a
Signature seen in that Column, and it did not say to whom it belonged. This
was an irregularity of Government Procedure, and a Breach of Due Process,
as well as undoubtedly, a Breach of the Financial Instructions of Taraba
State.
The Defendant, under Cross Examination disagreed with the Prosecution
that he put pressure on Mr. Nev to sideline the Administrative/Due Process
of going through the Ministry of Finance, through the Commissioner of
Finance, and to have the Monies released to Mr. Nev. He maintained that
since the Memos were signed, Due Process was meant to be followed.
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