Dariye’s trial: Court told how Plateau Ecological Fund was provided to facilitate Obasanjo’s re-election

A defence witness, Mr Geoffrey Teme, on Monday, told an FCT High Court in Gudu District that the Plateau Ecological Fund was provided to facilitate the re-election campaign of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003. Teme, the Majority Leader in the Plateau State House of Assembly from 2003 to 2006, said this during cross examination by EFCC prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN). According to him, this information was provided by the defendant, former Plateau State Governor, Joshua Dariye, to the House Committee set up to investigate the petition filed against the governor by the EFCC. He said that in 2004, then Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, had invited all 24 members of the House to the National Assembly in Abuja. “We were asked to pass a vote of no-confidence against Dariye. There was a conflict as we did not see anything in the law for us to pass a vote of no confidence against him. “His reason was that there was inefficiency on the part of the governor.’’ The witness also told the court that upon their arrival in the state, when they were still deciding on what to do, the whole party structure was dissolved. “A state of emergency was declared and an interim government was formed.’’ Teme, who was charged along with Dariye and prosecuted in Lagos with other members of the House, was later discharged. The witness was given a document relating to the release of N1.162 billion Ecological Fund to Plateau State and asked to identify where it was stated that the fund was for campaign. “Not reflected,’’ he said. He also admitted that the committee did not invite anyone from the Ecological Fund Office in Abuja to testify that the fund was for campaign purpose. Teme also admitted that it was constitutionally wrong for a public officer in Nigeria to have a foreign account. The prosecution also showed him a Barclays Bank account cheque for 57,000 pounds sterling of September 21, 2004, and was asked to identify the name and signatory. He identified it as belonging to Joshua Dariye and signed by him. Teme admitted that as a former member of the Plateau House of Assembly, he was not proud of it. “While you were in the House of Assembly in 2004, your governor was busy signing cheques,’’ Jacobs said. The witness admitted that the N160 million Ecological Fund paid into Dariye’s company account, Ebenezer Retnan Ventures, was an abuse of office. Teme said he was surprised that Dariye was operating two foreign and separate accounts in London and that a Plateau contractor paid 396,000 pounds into Dariye’s account to purchase a property in London. Teme, who admitted that the fund was meant for the people of Plateau State, said it was also wrong for the then Commissioner for Finance to have paid this money into his personal account. Dariye is facing a 33-count charge bordering on money laundering and diversion of N1.162 billion Plateau Ecological Fund. The trial continues.