Taraba State Government, but the point is, the Figure still appears on the
High Side.
Unless it is shown that Mercenaries or Hired Private Security Agents were
hired, and even then how quickly could they have been assembled in or to
Taraba State.
As regards the General Facelift and Sanitation Works, the Sum of Fifteen
Million Naira (N15, 000, 000.00) was provided. The Defendant had stated
that he had no idea what would actually be done, but the purpose of the
Facelift was to beautify and Prop-Up the Image of the State in the Areas the
President would visit.
The General Facelift, Sanitation and Civil Works could only be carried out
once the Money allocated was released to the purported Committees or
Departments, and the Works would have had to be completed before the 12th
April 2007, the Day of the President’s Arrival to Taraba State.
From the Documentary Exhibits before the Court, the Exhibit O1 and the
attached Payment Voucher, the Approval and Payment Process were
conducted on the 11th of April 2007. The Time Factor is therefore a very
Strong Factor, and it is not known what time of the Day the Money was
released, relevant Ministries mobilized, and/or when Contractors were
engaged. They literally had less than 24 hours to do whatever Face Lift,
Sanitation and Civil Works, and that would have been an uphill task to
initially identify the Areas of Concern, then mobilize Labour Force and
procure Materials, such as Paints, Cleaning Agents etc.
Now, assuming Sanitation could be achieved, the inclusion of Civil Works
and General Facelift appears rather Time Consuming, and the Court recalls
the Administrative Processes to obtain the Funds in the first place. A
Member of these Committees, if they existed, was expected to testify before
the Court on how they achieved this Extraordinary Feat. Their
Accomplishment and Master Stroke would have served as an example to
every other State in the Federation, once they revealed how they achieved
the Task.
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