collector of such allowances. This statement was confirmed by Mr. Akolo,
who stated that aside of only these allowances; nothing else was brought to
the Governor’s Lodge. He was not aware the Accountant took Monies in
excess of Twenty to Twenty Four Million Naira to the Defendant.
More importantly, he admitted that in advance of his trip to Abuja, he caused
the Permanent Secretary, Government House to write a Memo funding his
trip. The Monies were then transferred to the Taraba State Liaison Office
Account, cashed and released to him through his Orderly. He also displayed
knowledge of the processing of the transferred Funds, when he stated that
the Liaison Officer would direct the Accountant to go to the Bank and cash
the Funds for onward delivery to the beneficiaries.
By this, the Defendant has told the Court that he normally requested for
Money when he was coming to Abuja; the Money was actually sent and
cashed, and more importantly, he received it through his Orderly.
Now, it is important to peruse the said Counts of Offences under the Liaison
Office to decipher where the said transferred Funds came from. The Counts
all stated generally that the Funds belonged to the Taraba State Government.
However, the Defendant had in his Written Extra-Judicial Statement in
Exhibit Z6, stated thus: “Mallam Abdulrahman Mohammed is the Accountant Abuja Liason (sic)
Office. I usually direct my dispensation or Security Funds to be
transferred from Government House Jalingo to the Liaison Officer
Account. The accountant cashes the Money and brings it cash. The Money
involved ranges from two to thirty Million depending on the need as it
aroused (sic). In the case of my dispensations, Memos are always raised
and cash transferred to Abuja for disbursement to me and other Staff. In
the case of Security Funds, since it is paid in cash, I direct the Permanent
Secretary to transfer cash as need arises. On the issue of Purchase of
Stationaries (sic) worth two hundred and fifty million, and the alleged
one hundred and eighty million naira given to me by my then
Commissioner of Finance, Alhaji Abubakar Tutare. I wish to say that
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