The case related to the Ghana Youth Employment and Entrepreneurial Development Agency (GYEEDA) scandal resumed yesterday, with Philip Akpeena Assibit taking a further step to clear his name.
Over the past week, Mr Assibit has been under cross examination by lawyers for Abuga Pele, the former National Coordinator of GYEEDA, and the Attorney General for putting in false claims that he had secured $65 million World Bank funding for the creation of one million jobs for the youth which led government to part with GH¢4.1 million.
At the hearing yesterday, the AG declared that Mr Assibit fraudulently received the money by using an MDPI letterhead to sign a contract instead of that of his company, GIG.
But the businessman quickly denied the allegation, saying that he didn’t sign the contract as Managing Consultant of MDPI because there was no such a position at MDPI, and he could not have impersonated anyone.
According to him, the two firms interchangeably used their letterheads for their transactions and there was nothing malicious about it since it was “administratively convenient and normal.”
Mr. Assibit, who has reiterated that former Minister of Youth and Sports, Kofi Humado was part of all the agreements between GIG and NYEP, added that the letterhead used in signing the agreement did not influence the minister to decide to make payment, but that the decision was purely based on work done and the contracts that were completed and signed with Mr Humado.
When prosecution put it to him that his lawyers had the opportunity to confront Mr Humado and former Director of Management Development & Productivity Institute (MDPI), Dr Shaibu Ahmed Gariba about the agreement, he said he is not a lawyer and cannot tell the court why the lawyers did not confront the two, though he briefed the lawyers about the fact that Dr. Gariba was hiding several vital documents such as the contract.
He said that Mr Humado’s minutes indicated that there was a standing agreement and that he was aware of the contract.
Mr Assibit added that considering the substance of documentary evidence before the court, as well as testimonies on the matter, Mr Kofi Humado and Dr. Gariba simply were led by prosecution to deceive the court.
Case has been adjourned to today November 1, 2017.
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