How ex-Taraba gov’s aides used my account to move N27b LG funds — Witness

A prosecution witness in the N27 billion fraud trial of former Taraba State Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku has told a Federal Capital Territory High Court how local government funds were routed through his private account and disbursed on the instructions of senior government officials.

The Third Prosecution Witness, Taiwo Johns, testified on Monday before Justice S.C. Oriji of the FCT High Court in Maitama, Abuja, that money from local governments in the state was sent to his private company account, P3 International, with disbursement instructions usually coming from the second defendant, former Permanent Secretary Bello Yero, or other officers of the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

Johns told the court that he originally used the P3 International account to manage his farming business before joining the civil service as an Assistant Cashier in the Bureau. He said former Chief Cashier John Columba, former Director of Finance Babangida Hassan, and Yero directed him to make his account details available and await instructions on how to handle any funds deposited into it.

“They asked me to submit the account number so that some money will be sent to me and that I should await further instruction on what to do with the money,” he said, adding that when funds arrived, he would report to Columba, then to Hassan, before Yero gave the final directive on disbursement.

The witness disclosed that disbursements sometimes involved cash withdrawals, electronic transfers to designated account numbers, or physical handovers to one Lawal, described as a Personal Assistant to the former governor.

Johns provided specific transaction details to the court. He said N3 million received on November 20, 2017, was paid to the Second Prosecution Witness, Prince Onwuzuruike, along with an additional N2,250,000 — totalling N5,250,000 paid in a single day on instructions. On February 6, 2018, he received N7,750,000 and was directed to remit N6,250,000 to Onwuzuruike.

He further told the court that on April 11, 2018, Columba sent funds comprising N5 million, N1.7 million and N1.8 million to his account, with a cash withdrawal made on April 16, 2018, on the instruction of Hassan. Additional transfers to Onwuzuruike followed on April 26 and 27, 2018, running into several millions of naira.

Ishaku and Yero are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on a 15-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust, conspiracy and conversion of public funds totalling N27 billion. Justice Oriji adjourned the matter to July 7, 2026, for continuation of trial.