A former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Mohammed Umar (retd.), on Monday told the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court that he did not transfer N66 million from the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) account.
Umar, led in evidence by his counsel, Mr. Onyechi Ipeazu (SAN), told the court that he did not authorise such a transfer.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the court, in February, acquitted Umar on six out of the seven-count money laundering charge by the Economic and Financial crimes Commission (EFCC).
The court ordered him to defend himself on the seventh count, which is on alleged transfer of N66 million from NAF account to the account of Capital Law Firm for the renovation of a house in Asokoro, Abuja.
At the resumed hearing, Ipeazu told the court that his client was ready to open his defence, as the court had ordered, and that he would testify as the first defence witness.
As a witness, Umar told the court that he served in the NAF for 36 years, adding that he was promoted to Air Marshall and appointed as the Chief of Air Staff on September 8, 2010 and retired on October 4, 2012.
The witness told the court that as the Chief Accounting Officer of NAF at that time he held sway, he was not the only person that authorised payments from NAF account.
