By PAUL MICHAEL
A prosecution witness 13, PW13, in the trial of former Governor Jonah David Jang and a former cashier in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government (OSSG), Yusuf Pam, has told a High Court that the former allegedly diverted funds meant for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Plateau.
The witness, Mr Musa Olashuko, an Assistant Director in charge of Development with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), told Justice C.L Dabup that funds meant for artisans, small holder farmers, market women and entrepreneurs were diverted into the account of the Plateau State government and its agencies.
He said, “We made an enquiry on the regular flow of funds between the credited account communicated to us by the state government and the Plateau State Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (PLASMEDAN)’s account, and we noticed that funds were diverted to accounts related to the state government and its agencies and that no disbursement was made through the initial beneficiaries, i.e. the SME’s (Artisans, traders, small holder farmers, entrepreneurs and market women.), where about 60% of the funds was supposed to go to.”
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Olashuko further revealed that when CBN noticed the inappropriateness of the deal, a recommendation was made that the Issuance of Irrevocable Payment Standing Order (ISPO) issued by the state government be taken over in order to recover the funds. While cross-examining the witness, counsel for the first defendant, E.G Pajwok, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, asked the witness whether, in the course of their investigation in Jos, they went to the PLASMEDAN office or contact any of the officials.
He responded that the CBN later found out that “PLASMEDAN was just a paper creation. No building, no officials. The creation was not supported with any structural or operational framework”.
