An Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) witness on Thursday told the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) how he transferred money to the wife of former Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) Chairman, Danladi Umar, and paid school fees for his children after the CCT awarded a contract to his company, JTF Global Links Limited.
The witness, Oluwatayo Solomon, made the disclosure while testifying as the first prosecution witness (PW1) at the commencement of Umar’s trial for alleged corruption.
The former CCT boss was arraigned by the EFCC on July 9 before Justice Peter Kekemeke, sitting in Maitama, Abuja, on a four-count charge marked FCT/HC/CR/233/26, bordering on using his office to confer an unfair advantage on himself.
Umar, who also served as chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal’s Tender Board, was accused of receiving N5.5 million paid into his wife’s account by Kurchmivers International Ltd on October 5, 2021. The company was a subcontractor engaged to handle the internal and external painting of the CCT headquarters.
The EFCC further alleged that on January 25, 2024, N6 million was paid into his wife’s account by Realities Ltd, a sister company of JTF Global Links Ltd, which was engaged to digitise the CCT’s management records.
The prosecution also accused the defendant of conferring an advantage on himself by allowing a company handling a contract for the CCT to pay N4 million in tuition fees for his two children at Baze University.
The anti-corruption commission said the alleged offences contravened Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
Umar, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to him in open court.
At the commencement of the trial, Solomon told the court that the defendant called him two days after the completion of payment for a contract awarded to his company by the CCT and asked him to pay N6 million into his wife’s account.
He added that a Deputy Director at the CCT, Akinola Akanji, also called him in connection with the defendant’s request and forwarded the account details for the payment.
According to the PW1, “Mrs Umar also called me about the payment. The money was paid from the Portal Realities Limited’s Wema Bank account into her account.”
Led in his evidence-in-chief by prosecuting counsel Christopher Mshelia, the witness told the court that he also paid Umar’s children’s school fees at Baze University in Abuja.
Solomon told the court that in October 2021, Akanji called him and said the defendant had asked him to pay the school fees for two of his children at the Abuja-based university.
He said, “I paid about N2 million for Yakubu Umar Danladi from the Portal Realities Limited account in Jaiz Bank to Baze University. I also paid school fees on behalf of Faiza Umar Danladi from the same account.”
The prosecutor then tendered the contract documents the CCT awarded to the PW1’s company, JTF Global Links Limited, when the defendant was chairman of the tribunal’s Tender Board.
Under cross-examination by counsel to the former CCT chairman, Sunday Edwards, the PW1 told the court that he had known the defendant for over 10 years, adding that he knew Umar’s wife and children and could be considered a family friend.
Asked whether the N6 million he paid into Umar’s wife’s account was a loan, the witness answered in the negative.
According to him, “There was no reason to give her a loan because I did not have that discussion with her.”
The prosecution witness, however, acknowledged that the defendant’s wife transferred N3 million into his Zenith Bank account on February 16, 2024.
When asked whether he included this in the extrajudicial statement he made to the EFCC, the witness said he did not.
When asked to explain how the defendant instructed him to pay his children’s school fees, Solomon told the court that Akanji called him and gave him the directive, but he did not confirm it with Umar.
“I did not confirm from him based on the relationship I have with him and the beneficiaries sent to me are the people I am familiar with,” he said.
Solomon told the court that his company, Portal Realities Limited, through whose account the school fees were paid, was not awarded any contract by the CCT.
He told the court that he submitted the profile of his company, JTF Global Links Limited, to the CCT and that the tribunal awarded it a contract on September 22, 2021. However, he could not name the other companies that bid for the contract alongside his company.
The prosecution witness told the court that he had executed contracts for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), and the Katsina State Government.
Asked whether the contract awarded to his company by the CCT was based on his relationship with the defendant, Solomon said, “The documents I submitted are such that I am qualified to be awarded the contract.”
Following an application by the defence counsel for a certified true copy of the witness’s extrajudicial statements, which he said he wanted to use to confront the witness, the judge adjourned the case until January 20, 2027.
Justice Kekemeke said the adjournment was granted in the interest of fairness and directed the prosecution to make the required documents available to the defence.