Former President Goodluck Jonathan has asked the former National Publicity Secretary to the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Olisa Metuh, to pay N1bn to cover his travel expenses to appear as a defence witness in his trial.
At the resumed trial of Mr Metuh on Tuesday, Jonathan’s counsel, Mr Mike Ozekhome, asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to either set aside the subpoena for his appearance or compel to pay the amount.
Ozekhome told the court that the demand for the payment is in line with the provisions of Section 241 subsection 2 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and is meant to cover travel expenses for himself and his security personnel from his hometown in Otuoke, Bayelsa State to Abuja.
The amount is will also cover logistics and provision of tight security to cover whatever time the former President will spend appearing before the court.
Mr Ozekhome told the court that the application is supported by eight grounds and that the court ought to hear the application.
The grounds include that the evidence Mr Metuh is seeking from Jonathan would amount to an invasion of his privacy and family life as provided for in Section 37 of the Constitution.
Another ground is that the evidence will expose the former President to a criminal charge, penalty or forfeiture, arguing also that the grounds for the subpoena was frivolous.
The former PDP National Publicity Secretary along with his company, Destra Investments Limited, is being tried for allegedly receiving N400m fraudulently from the office of the NSA under Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd) and on charges involving cash transaction involving $2m.