The former Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh has disclosed that talks have begun between his legal team and officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to facilitate his return of N400million traced to him from defence funds. The funds which were primarily meant to fight Boko Haram insurgents were shared to party officials by former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan through the office of the Nation Security Adviser. Mr. Olisah through his lawyer Onyechi Ikpeazu has issued a statement again reasserting his intention to return the funds in its entirety to signify his support for President Muhammadu Buhari's anti-corruption war.

Metuh is currently undergoing trial for money laundering at a Federal High Court in Abuja.

See his full statement below:

Why Our Client (Chief Olisa Metuh) is Offering To Refund The N400 million – Counsel

In the light of the circumstances regarding the case of our client, Chief Olisa Metuh with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), we want to explain the reasons for our client's proposal to refund the N400 million released to him by former President Goodluck Jonathan, and which was expended on a project approved by the ex-President on national issues relating to his Presidency and the Federal Government at that time.

1. We want to restate that at the time the money was released to him after his presentation to the ex-President, our client had no knowledge of the source, a fact that is now obvious from the evidence of the prosecution and defence witnesses. Our client had every cause to believe that the money was from the ex-President to whom he made a presentation, received directives and rendered report and accounts accordingly.

2. When the matter first came up, and Chief Metuh was invited to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in December 2015, he requested to know the source of the money and expressed his readiness to make refunds if it was from government coffers, not minding that the money had been expended as directed by the former President. Officials at ONSA never got back to him as they promised, until his arrest by the EFCC in January 2016.

3. It was however while in court that a document was brought regarding the source of the money and since then, our Client has made manifest his willingness to refund the money and has indeed approached his family, friends and associates to mobilise funds to refund the entire N400 million to the government regardless of the fact that the money had been expended based on the directives of the former President and that part of the money had been recovered from one of the prosecution witnesses.

4. We want to confirm that since then, we have been in talks with the Ministry of Justice, the EFCC and other necessary bodies on how to refund the money and resolve the issue.

5. Our client occupied no government office. His commitment and dedication to his official duties have been confirmed by even prosecution witnesses. In this whole saga, he has been an unfortunate victim of circumstances. His refunding the money, therefore, goes to show his support for the anti-corruption war as well as serve as a testament to his sincerity, integrity and honesty in this matter.

6. There is no doubt that the prosecution has considerably embarked on some expenses in the course of this case. It is hoped that by not discounting the sum already recovered, whatever cost so far incurred would have been defrayed. By this, a critical objective of recovery of funds would no doubt be achieved.

7. It is pertinent to restate our client's continued support for the anti-corruption campaign, which is necessary to ensure probity in the affairs of Nigeria to the extent that it is conducted within the rule of law.

8. Finally, it is our client's prayer that this nation shall come through this difficult time by the grace of the Almighty God.


Signed:

Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN)


Counsel To Chief Olisa Metuh

http://saharareporters.com/2016/06/30/former-pdp-publicity-secretary-olisa-metuh-has-offered-return-n400m-he-received-ex-nsa

Old news.
ENL Chukky
Modified:

My first FTC on nairaland.
Am dedicating this to
All my Gees Reading

English & Literature
at the University of Benin.

Dem no dey tell man say rain dey fall

Wey d remaining dey na

Don't I find this news particularly hilarious? Metuh my man! He now knows,firsthand, about wealth accumulated through fraud, that later feels like gravel in the mouth (according to the bible).

Good one nonetheless, except that he should have spared us the funds and the time used for his prosecution so far, while also saving himself the humiliation he received while the show lasted.

Why will he return monies he claimed he never stole? Our political class are afraid of the courts these days. None is willing to go to prison. But they must go if found guilty.

Ndi oso chi egbu!

They should all return their share.

If true, great cos there is nothing like having peace of mind..... He has tried all he can but Justice Okon Abang saw through all the shenanigans...

I hope he does so i can "gently remind" one Ibo off NL ethnic jingoist that claimed Ibos don't return money.. No matter how wrong the initial payment basis was...

Money is good but peace of mind is so much better..

So dis guy don finally cool down

God bless Buhari

Chai the stubborn goat has finally bowed to a stubborn rope around his neck

The Guy look himself, think Kuje, think Kuje Prison Governor command ;

Hey Olisa come here
Go and watch that toilet
You think say here na Phee Dee Phee secretariat.

So He decided to make 180 degrees U turn.

Abeg Oga Buhari I wan return the money
Lai Lai I no go steal again

The man should have quietly returned the money months ago and saved himself from embarrassment.

It is pertinent to restate our client's continued support for the anti-corruption campaign, which is necessary to ensure probity in the affairs of Nigeria to the extent that it is conducted within the rule of law.

i love the part in bold. After all the gragra and cry of witch-hunt, Olisa Metuh has eventually joined the so called 'zombies' to support the presidents anti-corruption campaign. What a time to be alive.

Fayose, FFk, Nenadi Usman, Obanikoro and other yam eaters who still think the fight against corruption is a joke should better learn from the experience of Metuh. Return what you looted quietly before you are dragged and disgraced publicly. Don't be like Metuh who learnt the hard way.

Fear of baba and Magu is d beginning of wisdom.
"He that has tasted Nigerian prison will know that indeed no amount of money is worth a full-time confinement"-Anon 1914

7. It is pertinent to restate our client's continued support for the anti-corruption campaign, which is necessary to ensure probity in the affairs of Nigeria to the extent that it is conducted within the rule of law.

8. Finally, it is our client's prayer that this nation shall come through th

Wonders never cease. Metuh, support anti curruption crusade. We are in end times indeed

doctokwus:
Fear of baba and Magu is d beginning of wisdom.
"He that has tasted Nigerian prison will know that indeed no amount of money is worth a full-time confinement"-Anon 1914

Another Propaganda again? I'm patiently waiting for Chief Olisa Mentu to come out and debunk the lies frm Shara desert reporters

IVORY2009:


Another Propaganda again? I'm patiently waiting for Chief Olisa Mentu to come out and debunk the lies frm Shara desert reporters

The lawyer's statement is also propaganda?? Na wa oh!!

tbaba1234:


The lawyer's statement is also propaganda?? Na wa oh!!

We're in the era of propaganda bro, the lawyer will 2morrow come out and debunk it, it has happened before, if you can cast ur mind back in memory lane, so we wait for the horses mouth.

o

IVORY2009:


We're in the era of propaganda bro, the lawyer will 2morrow come out and debunk it, it has happened before, if you can cast ur mind back in memory lane, so we wait for the horses mouth.

Oga, this report is not new.. The family mentioned it a few weeks ago.
http://thenationonlineng.net/metuh-ll-refund-n400-million-says-family/

This is just a confirmation from the lawyer..

Interesting... Waiting for confirmation/rebuttal

If at all buhari is useless; make we no lie; he gather money small from polithiefians, but my question is where is the money? ?I heard he wan go borrow again, where are the money you gather oga buhari? ?

If Buhari prosecutes a southerner man for corruption, people will say he's doing ethnic cleansing.
2. If he prosecutes a fellow Fulani man, they will say it's because the criminal is a PDP member.
3. If he prosecutes a fellow APC member, they will say it's because the criminal is giving Buhari a tough time within the party & they're trying to frustrate the accused out of the party.
4. If he prosecutes someone that doesn't belong to any political party, they will say it's because the criminal is an anti-government critic.
They're yet to say whether the person being prosecuted is guilty of the said crime or not. We're simply comedians! I already said it. Buhari's anti-corruption fight won't be possible in as much as we keep politicizing and ethnicizing the whole thing. To discover that the same set of people that want corruption stamped out are the same ones saying all these things breaks one's heart.
When GEJ was president, why didn't he also prosecute all the thieves in the opposition? He was trying to be Mr. Nice? Mr. Nice that landed us in what we are in right now?
Get me right. I want Aregbesola's account frozen like Fayose's. But if I'm to distribute gifts to a group of people whose names are on a list, does it matter whether I start from the top, bottom, or middle? The most important thing is that the name of anybody that gets the gift is on the list, isn't it? Ok. What if the gift finishes before it reaches some people?
Well, in this case, it's not exactly the same. Buhari's gift is enough to go round everybody. So no matter where he starts from on the list, nobody will miss out on the gift. And nobody can dictate to him where he should start from. He made the list, not you or me. He that makes the list reserves the right to start anywhere he wishes. Instead of wasting our energy arguing on where he's starting from, we should ask whether someone who doesn't deserve a gift has gotten one. If that hasn't happened, then what has the noise been all about?
am an ardent supporter of pdp but let us allow buhari start from somewhere. he is not going to be in power for ever. if truly his fight is against pdp then i assure you that apc will not be in power till the end of time. that is why Nigerians should always take advantage of this and vote a different party after every successful administration. we in edo state will change to pdp after oshiomhole tenure and we will change pdp to another party after pdp tenure. we will continue to be doing this and using their head untill God bring the real messiah. God bless NIGERIA

metuh is finally back to his senses...
fayose next... patiently waiting for 30th of June

does he have a choice?

Wailers would be shocked and call it propaganda, get defensive by calling Ameachi and Tinubu to return stolen funds. SMH


Why nurse Metuh stressed himself this far still baffles me. If Amosun(ex-airforce chief) can return N2.1BN, what is N400M. Now he has wasted money on those lawyers who are only good at delay tactics.

Poor Metuh.

God bless PMB!!

it shouldn't b just oliseh metuh all the political thief's correlate with Babangida, Obasanjo, Atiku, Abdulsalami, Gej etc should also return stolen funds

Metuh's Family three days ago:

The family of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa
Metuh, has said that the embattled politician is
ready to refund the N400 million from the
amount he allegedly collected for the re-election
of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The family expressed worry over his state of
health, adding that it may worsen, if he is not
allowed to go abroad for medical check-up.
The family raised the alarm in a statement by
Chief Gilbert Metuh that Methu’s life is in
danger.
The National Publicity Secretary is standing trial
for collecting the money.
The family said: “Since his arrest and even up to
about a week ago, our son has made several
overtures to the arresting authority for him to
refund the money since they now claim in court
that it came from government coffers. All efforts
have been unsuccessful.
“It is instructive that, out of over 300 names
listed as having received money from the ONSA,
all those who offered to refund money were not
arraigned in court. Our son is the only one
whose offer to refund money was rejected and
has been arraigned in court and his case given
accelerated hearing. On each trial date, the
hostility in the courtroom is palpable.
“The offer to refund the money to the Federal
Government is still open and the government is
yet to accept the offer. It is, therefore, clear to us
that the intention is not the recovery of funds, but
a clear persecution of our son.”

Buhari and Magu looking at Olisa Metuh like. You sure?

yam eaters

Apart from returning the money, he should be barred from holding any political post again.

Wailers, how market?