raised by the Ministry of Finance, which he signed and the Approval was
granted on the 30th of December 2004. He stated thus:
“The Approval was processed through the Accountant-General’s Office,
for release of the Funds, to the Ministry of Finance and the Funds were
released accordingly. After the release, the entire Funds were deposited
into Salman Global Ventures Limited’s Account on the Directive of his
boss, the Defendant, as Governor of Taraba State. There was a directive
from the Defendant that N180Million should be paid to Salman Global’s
Account out of the total sum of N250Million.”
According to PW6, Mr. Abdulkadir Nagari, after Salman Global Ventures
collected the Cheque of Two Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (N250, 000,
000) on the 7th of January 2005 and issued a Cash Receipt, they did not
supply any of the items within the Two Weeks Time Span for which the
Supply of the Stationeries and Office Equipment was scheduled for delivery.
PW7, Mrs. Asabe Maiangwa, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of
Finance, complained to the Defendant as regards the Mode of Payment of the
Sum of Two Hundred and Thirty Million Naira (N250, 000, 000) unilaterally
employed by the Commissioner of Finance, Alhaji Abubakar Tutare.
According to her, the Defendant was “not happy” but the question remains,
what did he, as Governor, do thereafter?
As Governor, it was certainly good that he was unhappy but what he ought to
have done thereafter was the MOST CRUCIAL, which is some form of
Chastisement. It was only under Cross-Examination that he stated that he
did not investigate the default in the supply of the Stationeries because the
EFCC Investigations were ongoing and Alhaji Tutare had informed him that
Monies collected had been refunded. However, there is no evidence showing
that the Defendant, as Governor, either issued out a Query to the
Commissioner of Finance or constituted a Panel of Inquiry to investigate the
Commissioner. The failure to do so could only mean he acquiesced or
impliedly approved the act as carried out by his Commissioner. He never
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