A
former member of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Banahel Andong, on
November 8, 2016 told a Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court, Gudu,
Abuja, that it is not wrong for funds allocated to a state to be credited into
the personal account of an individual.
The
former lawmaker, who is currently the acting District Head of Manguana, in
Boggos Local Government Area, in the state, testified as the ninth defence
witness, in the ongoing trial of a former Plateau State governor, Joshua
Dariye.
Dariye
is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC,
before Justice Adebukola Banjoko for allegedly siphoning about N1.2 billion
Ecological Fund meant for the state, while diverting about N204million meant
for the state treasury, to Ebenezer Ratnen Ventures, ERV – a company linked to
him.
Under
cross-examination by prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, he was asked if
he would be surprised if the state’s statutory allocation was paid into his
personal account.
“I will be so
happy, I’ll be very happy; it depends on the memo accompanying it, but of
course government can give me money; when we lost our traditional ruler,
government gave me money, I was very happy and I collected it,” he said.
When
he was further pressed by Jacobs, if it was proper to pay funds meant for the
local government area into a personal account, he again responded in the
affirmative.
However,
when Jacobs further pressed him, if government funds meant for the state’s
House of Assembly can be paid into the personal account of a serving lawmaker,
Andong said, “It can’t.”
Andong,
who served as a legislator between 1999 and 2003 under the platform of the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, told the court that as chairman, House Committee
on Works, Housing and Transport, he carried out his oversight duty on several
projects carried out by the Dariye administration to combat erosion in the
state.
Earlier,
during examination by the defence counsel, G. S. Pwul, SAN, he noted that: “the
bill setting up the Direct Labour Agency, which carried out the road
construction works, was sent to the House of Assembly, read by the speaker of
the Assembly on the need to have such an agency to solve the rural
infrastructure needs of the state.”
While
admitting that he did not know the source of the funding for the road projects,
he said, “all I know was that there was some intervention from the federal
government on the ecological funds to assist the state, and the Dariye
administration did a very good job in arresting the situation and several roads
were reclaimed from erosion in the state.”
After
his exit in 2003, Andong was appointed by the administration of Jonah Jang, as
commissioner for local government and chieftaincy affairs, but spent a little
above a year in the office before he was dropped in a cabinet reshuffle, having
fallen out with the governor. He afterwards joined the Plateau Integrity Group,
a socio-political lobby group calling for the probe of Jang for corruption.
Currently a member
of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Andong, was questioned by Jacobs, on the
mission of the Integrity Group as regards speaking against corruption in the
state.
“You and the
members of the group set it up calling for the probe of Jang’s government for
corruption,” Jacobs queried.
Answering in the affirmative,
Andong however, buckled when the prosecuting counsel, questioned him further if
the group extended its probe into administrations from 1999 to 2015, which
included that of Dariye.
“I’m not the
chairman of the group and so I can’t speak on their behalf,” he said.
Justice Banjoko
has adjourned to November 9, 2016 for further hearing.
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