A prosecution witness, Kabiru Salau, told a Federal High Court, Abuja that he was directed to use his company’s name on documents for a house bought for Alex Badeh Jnr.
Salam made this known when he testified at the trial of former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, in Abuja on Wednesday.
The witness, led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Mr Adebisi Adeniyi, said retired Air Commodore Abdullahi Yusha’u, asked him to prepare the documents using his company’s name.
He also told the court that the house, which was initially advertised for N300 million,was later sold at N260 million.
The witness said that in 2012, Yusha’u informed that they were looking for a house for Alex Jnr, after three days, ” I called him back and told him I got a house at No. 19 Kumasi Crescent, Wuse 2, worth N300 million.
“After three days, he called back and asked how much the house would go for last and I told him I will call Alhaji Abba, who was the agent and ask.
“I later called Yusha’u and told him that the last price for the house was N260 million because this was what Abba had told me.
“Yusha’u told me it was okay and that we will go and inspect the house. I picked Yusha’u from” his house in Wuse 2 behind Sigma apartments and we went to inspect the house.
“While driving, he spoke to someone and said “you will see one black car coming out and you will follow the car behind”. And when we arrived, me, Yusha’u, Alex Jnr and Alh Abba, inspected the house.
“After I dropped Yusha’u, he called me after three weeks and gave me some money in dollars, half of the money for the price of the house, about five hundred and eighty something thousand dollars.
“I received the money and took it to Alhaji Abba, after one month, Yusha’u called that he wanted to go for medical checkup in Dubai and gave me the balance of the money which I took to Abba.
“I took the money to him, (Abba), he asked me which name will they use to do the agreement and I told him I do not know but I will ask Yusha’u, which I did.
“Yusha’u asked whether I had a company and I said I had so he said let them do the agreement with my company’s name.
“I gave the name of my company and address to Abba as Platinum Universal Project and Company Ltd.
“Abba wrote the agreement with the deed of assignment, power of attorney and the said agreement. I signed and Abba handed over the original certificate to me,” Salau told the court.
He said that after all the documents were ready, he called Yusha’u to tell him he had collected all the original documents from Abba.
Salau said Yusha’u sent the number of Alex Jnr to him so that he could call and handover the documents.
“I told Yusha’u that I had collected the original documents and he said okay and that he will send one number to me and it was Alex Jnr’s number.
“I called him and handed over all the documents to him.”
When Adeniyi sought to know why he gave the documents to Alex Jnr, he said it was Yusha’u’s directive.
Salau further said that he indicated interest in renovating the house and Yusha’u asked me to do the design and the quotation.
“He agreed to pay N60 million, he gave me $100,000 cash. After some months, he added another $200, 000.”
The witness also said that after the renovation house, Alex Jnr recommended a Lagos-based company to do the furnishing at a cost about N92 million.
He said Alex Jnr sent the number of another Lagos-based company for the furnishing, adding that the company quoted N92 million for the job.
“I called Alex Jnr and told him about it. He told me to take the quotation to Yusha’u which I did.
“Yusha’u later called me and asked which account they will use to send the money.
“I called Alex Jnr and he told me that I am the one in charge of the work so I sent my account number to Yusha’u and the next day, I received alert from Nigeria Air Force (NAF) maintenance.
“I called the company and transferred N80 million to them so the remaining balance we used to buy tiles, air conditioners electric and toilet fittings.”
He said when all the work on the house were completed, he handed over the house to Alex Jnr, but two months Alex Jnr demanded to enter into a tenancy agreement with my company.
The witness told the court that after some months, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) came calling
“Alex Jnr called me on a Friday and told me that he was renting the house. He told me that EFCC was looking for me and that they wanted to see the original documents and the landlord.
“Alex Jnr gave me the original documents, that is the certificates on a Saturday. I collected the original certificate and went to EFCC on Monday.
“When I got there, they asked me if the house belonged to me and I told them no.”
The judge, Justice Okon Abang, adjourned the case till July 4 for cross examination.
