WITNESS: Ex-Air Force chief Umar’s N558m monthly ‘loot’ was never documented

The trial of former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Mohammed Umar, continued at the Federal High Court Abuja with witness explaining how N13.3billion allegedly looted by the defendant was carried out without any documentation.

The witness, a former director of finance and accounts at the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Air Commodore Salisu Abdullahi Yushau, retd, said the money was diverted from salary account of the force between 2010 and 2012.

Yushau is the Prosecution Witness 1 (PW1) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which is prosecuting Umar on a seven-count charge of money laundering.

The PW1 said despite the fact he was the head of the finance unit, that the defendant, as the Chief Accounting Officer of NAF, pocketed N558.2million on monthly basis from the salary allocation without signing any document or receipt.

“As the Director of Finance and Accounts, I was responsible to the defendant as the Chief of Air Staff”, he said.

PW1, who was NAF head Accountant till December 31, 2013, had in his earlier witness on Monday exposed before the court how the force constantly received N4billion on monthly basis as its total salary allocation.

He said out of the N4billion, only about N2.4billion was finally spent to pay the entire Air Force personnel while the defendant directed that N558.2million out of the balance of N1.6billion from the salary allocation be converted to US dollars and taken to his official residence at Niger Barracks for his “monthly upkeep”.

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Maintaining his ground on Thursday, the PW1 told the court that as one facilitating the deduction of funds and its subsequent conversion to dollars, that Umar okayed a monthly transfer of N200million to his department.

“My lord, I told the Chief of Air Staff that my office didn’t require that amount of money. So, that N120million was put under the Chief of Air Staff’s office which he was using for visit to NAF formations and other welfare issues”.

When cross-examined by the defence counsel, Mr. Hassan Liman (SAN), the PW1 said he never issued any receipt to the defendant in respect of all the funds he took from the NAF account for his monthly upkeep.

The case was later adjourned by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba till March 28 and 29.

 

 

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