Bank Official Reveals Details of Funds Paid to Security Firms by ONSA

A bank officer spoke on Tuesday about the security funds the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), led by Sambo Dasuki, got from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Accountant General's Office in 2015. He also explained how these funds were sent to different beneficiaries.

Arhyel Mshelia, a compliance officer at Access Bank, testified at the FCT High Court in Maitama. He is the third prosecution witness in a long-running N4.6 billion arms procurement fraud trial involving Mr. Dasuki.

Mr. Mshelia explained how the security funds were moved into the accounts of Jabbama Ada Global Services, Jawas Multipurpose Ventures, and Onile Nigeria Limited in 2015.

Mr. Dasuki has been on trial since 2015, along with former Sokoto State Governor Attahiru Bafarawa, his son Sagir Bafarawa, former Minister of State for Finance Bashir Yuguda, and Dalhatu Investment Limited. They face 25 counts of misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, and receiving stolen property.

The charges say they diverted N4.6 billion from the NSA's account. This money was meant for buying arms to fight Boko Haram terrorists during former President Goodluck Jonathan's administration from 2014 to 2015. All the accused have pleaded not guilty.

Transaction Details

While reviewing the ONSA's account statement on Tuesday, the witness told the court that Mr. Dasuki and Salisu Abdulmalik Shaibu used to sign for the account at Access Bank.

Arhyel mentioned that on 16 March 2015, N500 million came into the account from the CBN, and this amount was paid out on 25 March 2015. The account also received N5 billion on 10 April 2015. On 16 April 2015, N27 million and N400 million were sent to Jabbama Ada Global Limited.

The signatory for Jabbama Ada was Salisu Umar Garu, according to the witness. He added that Jabbama Ada received N500 million on 5 February 2015 and N1 billion on 16 April 2015 from the ONSA.

From the Federation Allocation Account Committee (FAAC) account with the Accountant General’s Office, Jabbama Ada got N38 million and N25 million on 6 and 7 January 2015, and N55 million on 5 February 2015.

The witness also said Onile Nigeria Limited, which has Tom Ikimi as a signatory, received N200 million and N100 million from ONSA on 9 and 18 February 2015. Jawas Multipurpose Ventures also received N2 billion.

During cross-examination by the defense, the witness said he did not know what the transactions were for. He mentioned that Jabbama Ada was involved in general contracts, oil and gas, land buying and selling, and transport.

He also noted there were transfers to the defense headquarters. When asked by Mr. Yuguda and Dalhatu Investment Limited's lawyer, James Olatoke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the witness said he was unaware of any link between Jabbama Ada and his clients. He also mentioned transfers from other individuals and companies apart from ONSA and CBN.

The judge then postponed the case until 17 November.

The Prosecution's Case

The first prosecution witness, Hamza Abdullahi, was the second-in-command of the EFCC’s Special Task Force that looked into the alleged arms procurement fraud in the NSA office. He testified that N4.633 billion was found to be linked to Dalhatu Investment Limited. He noted that Mr. Sagir, the former Sokoto governor's son, is the only signatory for the company’s account.

The second witness, Mr. Yusuf, said funds were released from the NSA for security equipment supply, but the contracts were not carried out. He added that Mr. Sagir provided a list showing how the funds were used.

He said the money was used to fund a pilgrimage to Mecca and contributed to the 2015 political campaigns of the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He named recipients of these funds as Sheikh AbdurRahman Al-Sudais Foundation, which received N500 million, and Abdallah Wali, the 2015 Sokoto PDP governorship candidate, who allegedly got N580 million through a company.

This case is one of two arms procurement fraud matters against Mr. Dasuki and his co-defendants for the funds released from NSA accounts between 2014 and 2015. In the other case, the EFCC is prosecuting Mr. Dasuki, a retired colonel, along with a former General Manager at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aminu Baba-Kusa, Acacia Holdings Limited, and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited on 32 counts of fraud involving N33.2 billion in arms funds.

In March, the EFCC re-arraigned the defendants on criminal breach of trust and other charges after assigning the case to a new judge, Charles Agbaza. The defendants have denied all charges as they did when they first appeared in court in 2015.

Both cases faced many delays in their early years, mainly because the State Security Services (SSS) refused to release Mr. Dasuki on bail despite several court orders. Mr. Dasuki was NSA from 2012 to 2015, during a time of serious Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria’s North-east under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

An audit panel set up by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration found that about $2 billion given to Mr. Dasuki for arms purchases could not be accounted for. The EFCC has filed multiple charges against different people who received funds from the NSA office, claiming that these arms funds were given to friends, family, and political allies, especially members of the PDP, for purposes not related to buying arms.