. Insists He Had No Business With Metuh
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has demanded for the sum of N1bn to cover travelling expenses for himself and his security personnel from his home town, Otuoke, in Bayelsa State, to Abuja if he would appear in court as a witness to testify in defence of a former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh.
The ex-President, on Monday, asked the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to set aside the subpoena for his appearance in court or in the alternative, that Metuh be ordered to deposit the said amount with the court.
The money, according to the former President is also to cover the time that he might spend appearing before the court as President of Nigeria between 2010 and 2015 insisting that his request was in line with the provisions of Section 241(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
Among the grounds of the motion filed on Monday by Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) on behalf of Jonathan was that the evidence sought to be obtained from the Jonathan would amount to an invasion of his privacy, and family life as provided for in Section 37 of the Constitution.
In addition, the ex-President contended that the evidence sought to be obtained from him was likely to expose him to a criminal charge, penalty or forfeiture arguing that the subpoena was vague and obtained on frivolous ground.
He declared that Metuh was not his personal aide or an appointee and so could not have dealt with him (Jonathan) directly under any circumstance to warrant the invitation of the applicant to testify in the charge adding that there was no nexus between him and Metuh and the charge for which Metuh is standing trial.
An affidavit filed in support of the motion read in part, “That he (Jonathan) as the then President of the Federal Republic (2010-2015), appointed ministers and different persons to carry out the day-to-day running of the government activities and such appointees are those who directly related with the President and not third parties, such as the 2nd respondent.
“That it is such appointees that can explain daily government’s transactions which they directly supervised and not the President who was the overall boss.
“That the 2nd respondent, Olisa Metuh, was never at any time a personal aide or appointee of the applicant.
“That he (Jonathan) knows nothing about the seven charges for which the 1st defendant/ 2nd respondent is standing trial before this court and has absolutely nothing to testify about before this court.
“That he, as a former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in the event that this honourable court refuses prayer one on the motion paper, shall require the sum of N1,000,000,000.00 (one billion naira) only, to cover travelling expenses for himself and his security personnel, from his home town Otuoke, in Bayelsa State, to Abuja, and also for logistics, and provision of tight security to cover any period of time that he might spend appearing before this court as President of Nigeria between 2010 and 2015.
“That Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, OFR, the lead counsel in this matter, informed me under the same circumstances stated in paragraph 4 above, and I verily believe him, that by virtue of the provisions of section 241(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, the applicant is not bound to attend to court except the 2nd respondent herein (Olisa Metuh), who applied for the issuance of subpoena ad testificandum on him, pays for his travelling expenses.”
It would be recalled that Justice Okon Abang had issued two separate subpoenas ordering Jonathan and the detained former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, to appear in court on Tuesday following separate applications by Metuh.
Metuh is being tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is prosecuting Metuh and his company, Destra Investments Limited, for allegedly receiving N400m fraudulently from the NSA office and on charges involving cash transaction involving $2m.