The Impartial Corrupt Practices and Different Associated Offences Fee (ICPC) has secured the conviction of Mr. Garuba Mohammed Duku, a retired Director of Finance and Administration with the Abuja Metropolitan Administration Council (AMMC) underneath the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), for corruption and cash laundering involving N318 million.
In line with a press release by the Fee, Mr. Duku was sentenced to 24 years imprisonment by the Federal Excessive Court docket, Abuja, presided over by Justice James Omotosho.
He was discovered responsible on a six-count cost of corruption and cash laundering filed by the ICPC in swimsuit quantity FHC/ABJ/CR/608/2022. He diverted N318,250,000 belonging to AMMC into his private account.
“Investigations by the ICPC revealed that between 2012 and 2013, the convict fraudulently diverted N318,250,000 (Three Hundred and Eighteen Million, Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) belonging to AMMC into his private account, which was domiciled at Fidelity Bank Plc.
“Additional findings confirmed that he obtained a number of funds totaling the stated sum, together with N56.25 million, N71 million, N53 million, N54 million, N46 million, and N36.3 million, which had been subsequently transferred to Bureau de Change operators and expended for unauthorized functions,” the fee acknowledged
Throughout the trial, the ICPC established that Duku’s technique of fund launch and withdrawal was fraudulent and in violation of extant authorities monetary rules.
- The Fee additionally refuted Mr. Duku’s declare that the funds had been disbursed to his superiors, as no proof was produced to substantiate the assertion
Court docket’s ruling
Justice Omotosho held that the proof and witness testimonies introduced by the Fee proved the defendant’s guilt past an inexpensive doubt.
Consequently, the courtroom sentenced Duku to 4 years’ imprisonment on every of the six counts or an possibility of a superb equal to 5 occasions the quantity acknowledged in every depend, totalling roughly N1.6 billion. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The ICPC stated the conviction displays its dedication to holding public officers accountable and making certain justice for acts of corruption.
It acknowledged that the judgment highlights its unwavering dedication to holding public officers accountable and making certain that those that betray the general public belief by corrupt practices are dropped at justice in accordance with the regulation.
What it’s best to know
The conviction provides to a sequence of corruption-related prosecutions concluded by the ICPC of latest.
Nairametrics reported that the Federal Excessive Court docket in Abuja remanded two employees members of the Rural Electrification Company (REA), Umar Musa Karaye and Emmanuel Titus, over an alleged N426 million challenge supervision fraud.
In line with the ICPC’s counsel, Dr. Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha, Karaye allegedly diverted N165 million, whereas Titus was indicted for N261 million. The duo had been accused of gathering varied sums underneath false pretence of supervising electrical energy initiatives on behalf of the company.
A civil servant, Emmanuel Ogunyemi, was convicted for unlawfully receiving salaries from two totally different authorities entities, the Lagos State Common Primary Training Board (SUBEB) and the Agbado Oke-Odo Native Council Improvement Space (LCDA). The unlawful acquire was about N3.49 million.
Early this yr, ICPC additionally arrested Adam Imam Yusuf, a Deputy Commandant of the Nigerian Safety and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin (rtd.), a former Chief of Naval Staff, over alleged fraudulent diversion of greater than N3 billion.
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