By this Act, Alhaji Abubakar Tutare as Commissioner of Finance certainly had clout and was extremely audacious to have pulled the Rug from under the Feet of the Ministry of Finance. One thing and just one thing alone is sacrosanct, he was APPOINTED not by the people of Taraba State but by the Defendant, as the Governor of Taraba who was ELECTED. It is imperative therefore to bring to the fore the Background of this Witness, PW10, Alhaji Abubakar Tutare, the Substantive Commissioner of Finance, as he is the only nexus between the Ministry of Finance and Salman Global Ventures Nigeria Limited and between the Defendant and the Purchase of Stationeries and Office Equipment. At the Time of Trial, PW10, Alhaji Abubakar Tutare, according to the Defendant was a Serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Alhaji Tutare stated that he had known the Defendant as far back as 1992 when he was the Deputy Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly. Their relationship spanned from the Defendant’s Second and Third Tenure in 1999 until 2007 when he left Office. During this Period, he served asthe Defendant’s Commissioner in the following Ministries namely: The Ministryof Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Sports and Youth Development. He had attributed his Benefactor to be the Defendant and during CrossExamination, had stated that he could not bite the hand that fed him and had only appeared before the Court on a Subpoena. Since he had never been a Civil Servant, was not conversant with the Civil Service Rules but learnt on the Job, as Commissioner of Finance, it is no wonder that he would attribute his Position to the Defendant. As would soon be seen, he had met the MD/CEO of Salman Global Ventures Nigeria Limited through the Defendant at his Residence in 2004. As regards, Alhaji Abubakar Tutare’s nexus with Salman Global Ventures Nigeria Limited, it is important to point out that from the evidence adduced 70

Select target paragraph3