A prosecution witness, Mary Bawa, has told Justice Longji of the Plateau State High Court, sitting in Jos, that the loan of N2.079 billion for the Plateau State Universal Education Board obtained by the former governor of the state, Senator Jonah Jang, did not follow due process.
Bawa, who is a prosecution witness number 12 and a civil servant in the Office of the Accountant General, Plateau State Ministry of Finance, made the revelation at the resumed hearing in the ongoing trial of the ex-governor on Monday.
Jang is facing 12 counts for abuse of office, embezzlement and money laundering to the tune of N10 billion, brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, disclosed in a statement that the prosecution has added five more charges thereby increasing the counts to 17.
The witness said she was posted to PLASUBEB as Director Finance and Supply, where she processed financial documents, made payments and kept records.
“As a financial expert, the approval limit for the threshold for the board did not follow due process as I am not aware that threshold limit for the sum of N2.079billion was ever presented to the board. All that I know is that the loan of N2.079 billion was handed over to me,” Bawa explained.
Disclosing how the funds were disbursed, the witness said, “On my resumption, my colleagues handed over the loan of N2.079bn borrowed by the previous government to me. I processed another request to borrow N750million by following a letter and directives from the chairman.
“It was discovered that about N3bn was withdrawn from Plateau State, SUBEB account and first defendant had directed that it should be borrowed from the Plateau State SUBEB account.
“We discovered that these monies were borrowed in tranches; The first tranche of N2.079bn, which the first defendant directed be paid to other contractors and liabilities in the state.”