Former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Olisa Metuh on Wednesday told the court that he does not have N1 billion naira to pay former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Why it matters:

• Metuh had urged the court subpoena Jonathan to appear before it as a defence witness in his trial.
• In an application, Jonathan said Metuh must pay N1 billion to cover travelling expenses for himself and his security personnel from his home town, Otuoke in Bayelsa State, to Abuja and also for time that he might spend appearing before the court as President of Nigeria between 2010 to 2015.
• He also added that the evidence being requested from him will expose him to a criminal charge.

What happened in court:

In a counter-affidavit by Metuh’s lawyer, he said he does not have N1 billion to give Jonathan.

He urged the court to strike out Jonathan’s application, stating that it is aimed at frustrating Metuh.

“This application is therefore not only soeculative but premature and deserves to be struck out.

“With respect to demand for deposition of N1bn, the 1st defendant in his affidavit averred that he does not have such amount.

“We believe that such demand is punitive and meant to frustate the 1st defendant’s attempt at obtaining an evidence that will assist him in the defence of the charge against him before this court.

“It is the view of the 1st defendant that from the first day that he was arrested, he made it clear that the release of the money was authorised by the former President and was released by the former NSA, Dasuki.

“My lord this application simply seeks to set aside the subpoena and to save this nation the embarrasment of having a man who means a lot to the entire country as a former President, to step into the dock to give evidence.

“My lord it is unprecedented, and the embarrassment could have been aborted if the charge against the 1st defendant was not preferred after he had disclosed to the EFCC the source of the fund for which the defendants are standing trial.

“My lord in the circumstance, it is our position that this application be struck out”, Etiaba added.

Azeez