How I Acquired Property Worth N4.7bn – Ex-Air Chief, Dikko Tells Court
Former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar told the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday that he bought properties worth about N4.7 billion with estacodes earned through training and flying most of the African Presidents during his years in service.
Air Marshal Dikko Umar made the disclosure at the resumed trial of the alleged money laundering and corruption charges brought against him before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
In continuation of his cross-examination by the prosecuting counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, Dikko said; “For thirty-six years of my service my lord, I served in the Presidential Fleet for seventeen years. Most of the flights I took were external trips outside Nigeria, and I went for many training trips outside the country.”
A statement by the Head of Media and Publicity, Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, quoted Dikko as further disclosing that he flew all African Presidents during his years in service, except the Presidents of Cote D’Ivoire and Togo.
“I have earned a lot of estacodes, lots of foreign trips, and two farms in Abuja with about 17 hectares of land and the other two in Kaduna are four hectares and 200 hectares respectively. I have been a farmer throughout my life.”
Asked why he did not provide the court with documents to back up his claims about the estacodes, he said nobody asked him to do so. He however adds that he mentioned it in his extrajudicial statement to the EFCC.
Dikko also told the court that the Nigerian Air Force “has its own way of operation”; adding that the Service had no e-payment system during his time.
However, documented evidence before the court shows that while in office, Dikko received his salary through the bank. Also, pages 22 to 472 in the exhibit, show e-transactions for upkeep to some under-listed officers. And those transactions happened in August 2012, when the defendant was the Chief of Air Staff.
The anti-graft agency statement however said that Justice Dimgba has adjourned the matter till March 1, 2022, for the adoption of final addresses by the respective counsels in the case.
Dikko was first arraigned on January 25, 2017, on a 7-count charge of money laundering and procurement fraud to the tune of N9.7 billion. Six of the counts were dismissed following a no-case submission.