A prosecution witness, Oluwatayo Solomon Fashogbon, on Thursday told the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, how he paid N6 million into the bank account of the wife of former Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Yakubu Umar, on the ex-CCT boss’s instruction.
Fashogbon, Chief Executive Officer of Portal Realities Limited and JTF Global Links Limited, disclosed this while testifying as the first prosecution witness, PW1, before Justice U. P. Kekemeke.
Umar is facing a four-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, bordering on alleged nepotism and conferring corrupt advantage on himself to the tune of N15,587,833.76.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Christopher Mshelia, PW1 said the payment was made on January 25, 2024, two days after his company received the fourth instalment of payment under a contract awarded by the tribunal.
The witness told the court that the defendant asked him to meet the Procurement Department of the CCT in September 2021 and submit his company’s documents.
He said he submitted the documents of JTF Global Links Limited to the procurement department, adding that the then Deputy Director of Procurement, Akinola Akanji, subsequently contacted him.
According to him, Akanji informed him on September 22, 2021, that the contract had been awarded to his company.
“We were given an award letter for the digitalisation of the Code of Conduct Tribunal’s personnel records, stores, accounts, and online filing systems. On the same day, we submitted an acceptance letter,” he told the court.
The witness said the contract was valued at about N140 million for 12 months and that his company received four payments under the agreement.
“We applied for the first payment. It was paid into JTF Global Links Limited’s Stanbic IBTC Bank account in September 2021, amounting to about N9,000,000.
“We also requested the second payment, which was paid into our Stanbic IBTC Bank account on December 18, 2021. It was about N17,000,000. The third payment, which was about N16,000,000, was also paid into our Stanbic IBTC Bank account in July 2022. The fourth payment was made on January 23, 2024, and it was about N17,000,000,” he said.
PW1 further revealed that after the fourth payment, the defendant allegedly contacted him two days later.
“After the fourth payment, on 25th January 2024, Umar Danladi called me and said that I should make a payment of N6,000,000 to the account of his wife in Zenith Bank, Mrs Zulaihatu Danladi Umar,” he said.
The witness said the N6 million was paid from the Wema Bank account of Portal Realities Limited.
He also narrated how he allegedly facilitated payment of the defendant’s children’s university fees.
“In October 2024, Mr Akinola Akanji called me that Umar Danladi asked him to inform me to help him pay his two children’s school fees,” he said.
According to him, he paid about N2 million as school fees for the defendant’s son, Yakubu Danladi Umar, into Baze University’s account from the Jaiz Bank account of Portal Realities Limited.
He added that he made the same payment into the university’s account for his daughter, Faiza Umar Danladi, from the same company account.
The prosecution subsequently sought to tender the contract award letter in evidence. Identifying the document, the witness said he recognised it by the CCT logo, his company’s logo, the signature and dates on the contract.
The document was admitted in evidence and marked as Exhibit A.
During cross-examination by defence counsel, S. Edward, PW1 said he was qualified to execute public contracts, citing his company’s previous engagements with the CCT and other government institutions.
He maintained that his contracts were awarded on the basis of his qualifications and the documents he submitted.
The matter was adjourned till January 20, 2027, for continuation of hearing.
