A businessman, Oluwatayo Solomon Fashogbon, has told the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Maitama, Abuja, how he paid N6 million into the bank account of the wife of Danladi Umar, a former chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), on the latter’s instructions.
Fashogbon said the payment was made on the instruction of the former tribunal chairman.
Fashogbon, chief executive officer of Portal Realities Limited and JTF Global Links Limited, disclosed this while testifying on Thursday as the first prosecution witness (PW1) in Umar’s trial before Justice U. P. Kekemeke.
Umar is facing a four-count charge filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), bordering on alleged nepotism and the conferring of corrupt advantages on himself. The charges involve N15,587,833.76.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel Christopher Mshelia, Fashogbon told the court that the payment was made on January 25, 2024, two days after his company received the fourth instalment of payments under a contract awarded by the tribunal.
The witness told the court that Umar had asked him to meet with the CCT’s procurement department in September 2021 and submit his company’s documents.
Fashogbon said he submitted the documents of JTF Global Links Limited to the department, adding that the then deputy director of procurement at the CCT, Akinola Akanji, subsequently contacted him.
According to him, Akanji informed him on September 22, 2021, that the contract had been awarded to his company.
“We were given an award letter for the digitalisation of the Code of Conduct Tribunal’s personnel records, stores, accounts, and online filing systems. On the same day, we submitted an acceptance letter,” he told the court.
The witness said the contract was valued at approximately N140 million for 12 months and that his company received four payments under the agreement.
He said: “We applied for the first payment. It was paid into JTF Global Links Limited’s Stanbic IBTC Bank account in September 2021, amounting to about N9 million.
“We also requested the second payment, which was paid into our Stanbic IBTC Bank account on December 18, 2021. It was about N17 million. The third payment, which was about N16 million, was also paid into our Stanbic IBTC Bank account in July 2022. The fourth payment was made on January 23, 2024, and it was about N17 million.”
PW1 further told the court that Umar allegedly contacted him two days after the fourth payment.
“After the fourth payment, on 25th January 2024, Umar Danladi called me and said that I should make a payment of N6,000,000.00 to the account of his wife in Zenith Bank, Mrs Zulaihatu Danladi Umar,” he said.
The witness said the N6 million was paid from the Wema Bank account of Portal Realities Limited.
He also narrated how he allegedly facilitated payments for the former tribunal chairman’s children’s university fees.
He said: “In October 2024, Mr Akinola Akanji called me that Umar Danladi asked him to inform me to help him pay his two children’s school fees.”
According to him, he paid about N2 million in school fees for Umar’s son, Yakubu Danladi Umar, into Baze University’s account from the Jaiz Bank account of Portal Realities Limited.
He added that he made a similar payment into the university’s account on behalf of Umar’s daughter, Faiza Umar Danladi, using the same company account.
The prosecution subsequently sought to tender a contract award letter in evidence. Identifying the document, the witness told the court that he recognised it by the CCT’s logo, his company’s logo, the signature and the dates on the contract.
The document was admitted in evidence and marked as Exhibit A.
During cross-examination by defence counsel S. Edward, PW1 said he was qualified to execute public contracts, citing his company’s previous engagements with the CCT and other government institutions.
The witness further maintained that his contracts were awarded on the basis of his qualifications and the documents he submitted.
The matter was adjourned until January 20, 2027, for continuation of the hearing.
