A contractor, Olugbenga Obadina, has confessed to receiving N2,17,190,000 (Two Billion, Seventeen Million, One Hundred and Ninety Thousand Naira) from the Office of the National Security Adviser, then under Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd.), on November 28, 2015, without performing any work or being scheduled to perform any work for the federal government.
Obadina, currently on trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), made this admission on Monday, May 20, 2024, before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
He acknowledged that the payments to his company, Almond Projects Limited, were not intended for the installation of a power plant in Yobe State, nor for any power project in the state.
Obadina and Almond Projects Limited, the first and second defendants respectively, face an eight-count charge from the EFCC, including conspiracy, official corruption, and money laundering.
During cross-examination, prosecution counsel Ibrahim Buba asked Obadina to specify the project for which his company received payments. Buba also inquired if the payment was for installing a power plant or any power project in Yobe State. Obadina responded negatively to both questions.
“My lord, regarding the payments documented for Almond Projects, no specific site or location was mentioned,” Obadina stated.
When further questioned by the prosecution about whether any part of the payments was intended for the installation of solar or power plants in Yobe State, Obadina confirmed, “Yes, none of these payments was for the installation of solar in the state.”
Referencing the defendant’s extra-judicial statement, marked Exhibit GO1, 1-9, the prosecution highlighted that nowhere in the statement did Obadina specify a location in Yobe State for the project. Although Obadina claimed he mentioned a site outside Damataru, the state capital, he could not pinpoint this in his statement when challenged by the prosecution.
With no re-examination from the defence, Justice Dimgba adjourned the trial to May 30 and 31, 2024, for continuation.
