A former Director of Administration and Finance in the Office of the National Security Adviser, Shuaibu Salisu, testified in a Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday, revealing that former NSA Sambo Dasuki authorized payments of N200 million and N2 billion to a company, Silver Macnamara, without evidence of the work done.
Salisu, the 14th prosecution witness, stated that Dasuki did not disclose the purpose of the payment, only mentioning “physical security infrastructures” in the memo.
He said, “The NSA did not tell me the purpose for which the money was meant, but that the memo raised only stated that the purpose was for physical security infrastructures.”
During his testimony, Salisu explained the payment process in the NSA’s office, stating, “Once the NSA approves payment, we process the payment accordingly, and our payments are mainly on operational payment for security; I mean operational activities. The role of the NSA Office is purely on the security of the entire country, and if monies are extended for security infrastructure, we expect that it will be retired.”
When shown a document tagged Exhibit S, the payment voucher raised for the funds, Salisu said, “It is the payment mandate raised by me as a Director of Administration and Finance under the NSA instruction. The NSA instructed me to raise it. The first figure was N200 million in favour of Silver Macnamara paid to the Diamond Bank account, and the NSA gave me the account details.”
When asked who signed the payment mandate, Salisu replied, “I signed my part as signatory B. After that, I took it to NSA for final signature, which is the approval, after which I will take the mandate to the Central Bank of Nigeria for payment.”
Salisu further testified that the payment was made, and that there ought to be a retirement after the purpose for which the money was paid had been carried out, but that up till the time he left the office, he could not say whether the beneficiary made the retirement or not.
