Jonathan Authorised 400m for Metuh – Witness

A defence witness, Mr. Anthony Okeke, in the on-going trial of the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Olisa Metuh, told a Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday that former President Goodluck Jonathan’s authorised 400m to Metuh.He said the money was released to help counter the battered image of the former president portrayed by the then opposition All Progressives Congress’ “smear campaign”.Okeke is a lawyer and a former Acting National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, who handed over to Metuh in September 2013.He said the opposition party’s campaign dealt a great blow to Jonathan’s image so much that a number of consultants were needed to change public perception about the former President ahead of the 2015 presidential election.The witness who was the fourth called by Metuh since he opened his defence, said the opposition “cleverly” tagged Jonathan as an ineffective and unserious president.He added that it was not surprising for him to learn that the sum of N400m was authorised by the then President to counter the opposition’s campaign.The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Metuh and his company, Destra Investments Limited, on charges including fraudulent collection of N400m from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in November 2014 and using same for PDP’s presidential campaign.