When shown Exhibit K, he acknowledged that this Sum was paid on the 13th
of April 2005, stating further that it was the Defendant’s Share for the Water
Project. He could testify that on all the transactions of payment into Salman
Global Ventures Account, Salman Global Ventures as a Company, DID NOT
do anything in regard to the Projects.
On the contention of the Defence that he was an accomplice, his reply under
Cross-Examination was that he was investigated by the EFCC, questioned but
not arrested because he was not alleged to have committed any Offence. He
also had not been given any Petition to respond to and had made refunds
because he conscientiously received from those people.
Mr. Dandison Akurunwa had testified that he knew the Defendant and
related with him and also knew of the friendship between the Defendant and
Alhaji Ibrahim Abubakar. More importantly, is the assertion of Mr. Ibrahim
Abubakar in his Statement in Exhibit Z7 that he had no direct or indirect
relationship with Mr. Suleiman Abubakar. The question must therefore be
asked why Funds relating to the Ibi Wukari Water Project should find its
way into the Account of a Person or Company that did not have any direct or
indirect relationship with the Representative of the Contractor for the Water
Project. It just does not make any Sense.
By all indications, the two Parties had never met and Alhaji Tutare had bold
facedly collected his own portion of Gratification and so needed not to have
hidden under the cover of a Company to collect more. This also, could not be
a possibility because both Alhaji Tutare and Alhaji Ibrahim Abubakar were
not known as fast friends and both had traced their origin of association to
the Defendant. There was also the evidence that Tutare usually called
Ibrahim whenever he was directed to pay Money into Ibrahim’s Company
Account. There is also the fact that if the Defendant did not know Alhaji
Ibrahim Abubakar, there would have been little chance that he would visit
the Defendant’s Residence.
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