A
witness for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdullahi
Yushau on Wednesday told the Federal High court presided over by Justice Okon
Abang that former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh’s son rejected a house of
N340m, adding that another property worth N330m was purchased for him in Abuja.
Yushau, former
Director of Finance and Accounting in the Nigerian Airforce told the court that
the properties were procured while Badeh was the Chief of Air Staff from funds
meant for the salaries of Air force personnel.
Yushau in his
testimony said, “Badeh told me he wanted his second son, Kam, to own a house
and I started looking for one, which I eventually got and the name of the owner
of house is Isiaka Rabiu.
“I made some enquiries
and got to know the price of the house, which is about N340m, this I told Badeh
and he directed me to go ahead and pay, which I did. I paid the dollar
equivalent of the money to Rabiu.”
Yushau further
explained that, “When Kam saw the house, he didn’t like it and he may have
informed Badeh, who later instructed me to look for another property.”
“One evening, I was
sitting in my house. One Honourable Bature called and requested me to see him.
He was then living at Kumasi crescent at Wuse 2. When I saw him, he told me he
wanted to sell his house. He was building another house somewhere.
“He requested me to
find someone who can buy the house. I told my chief and he said he wouldn’t
like Honourable Bature to know that he was the one buying.
“I told him we could
use Barrister Useni Umar. I told Useni that my boss would like to buy a house,
but he wouldn’t want the buyer to know he is the one buying. I took Useni to
Honourable Bature as an agent. After two days, the barrister told me he had
concluded negotiation with Bature and that he had agreed to sell the house for
N330m.
“Badeh then directed
that I should pay for the house. I took the equivalent of N330m in dollars,
which was deducted from the money I normally take to him and effected the
payment.
“I collected the title
documents for the house and handed them over to the accused.”
Yushau also informed
the court that Badeh procured another property worth N260m at Wuse 2 for his
first son, Alex Badeh jnr and renovated it with N60m and furnished it with
N90m.
Following a motion for
adjournment by the defence counsel, Zibiri, Justice Abang adjourned the matter
till March 23 for cross examination of the prosecution witness without fail.
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