Family Confirm Olisa Metuh is Ready to Refund N400m to Regain Freedom

Family Confirm Olisa Metuh is Ready to Refund N400m to Regain Freedom

Family of the immediate past national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh, on Thursday stated that the embattled PDP chieftain is ready to refund the sum of N400m he allegedly collected from the office of the former national security adviser, Col Sabo Dasuki (rtd).

Chief Gilbert Metuh, who issued the statement on behalf of the Metuh family, said his brother’s life was in danger because of his alleged spinal cord injury, hinting that he was ready to do whatever was required to regain his freedom.

Punch reports that Chief Gilbert admitted that the family was aware that the matter regarding their son was subjudice, but said the family was only reacting to issues that were in public glare.

He said, “Since his (Metuh’s) 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.”

Metuh is currently being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for allegedly receiving the sum of N400m from Dasuki for campaign expenses, which according to the agency amounted to misappropriation of public funds.

The former PDP spokesman has repeatedly stated that he was not aware the money came from the government coffers and that it was merely released to him to launder the alleged bad image of former President Goodluck Jonathan some months to the 2015 presidential election which Jonathan eventually lost.

This week, Metuh lost in his bid to quash the charge as both the federal high court sitting in Abuja and the court of appeal said he had a case to answer on the issue. The federal high court also refused his request to travel abroad for medical attention.