Court Sentences PDP Chieftains to Two-year Jail Term over Money Laundering

Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja

A Federal High Court sitting in Bauchi has sentenced two chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to a two-year jail term each for their complicity in conspiracy and money laundering to the tune of N142 million.

 The presiding judge Justice Hassan Dikko convicted the duo on March 2, while ruling on a two count charge brought against the defendants by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC).

This was revealed in a statement issued the spokesman of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren released at the weekend.

The statement said the defendants were first arraigned on June 4, 2018 and re-arraigned on October 16, 2018 on a two count charge for allegedly receiving over N142 million to influence the outcome of the 2015 presidential elections in Bauchi State.

The defendants had pleaded not guilty to the charges, setting the stage for the case to proceed to full trial.

In the course of trial, the prosecution presented one witness and tendered documents marked as Exhibits A1, A2 and A3. Both defendants testified in their respective defence.

At the close of evidence, the final written addresses were filed, exchanged and adopted on January 17, 2023, with the prosecution asking the court to convict the defendants as charged.

The defence, on the other hand, submitted that the evidence presented against the defendant by the prosecution was not credible and urged the court to discharge and acquit the defendants.

Justice Dikko then reserved judgment for March 2.

In the well-considered judgment that lasted more than three hours, Dikko reviewed the facts of the case and the submissions of counsel and arrived at the conclusion that the prosecution proved the cases against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt on count one and convicted them as charged.

He, however, discharged and acquitted the 2nd defendant on count two.

But Dikko in his judgment said: “The fact that the defendants in this instant case endorsed exhibit A1, A2 and A3 to receive cash to the tune of N142, 460,000.00, well in excess of the legal threshold designated by law, there can be no other conclusion but that the defendants conspired to so commit the offence and I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt.

“It is rather astonishing that in the defence of the count, the defendants completely disregarded the damaging evidence of exhibits A1,A2 and A3, lying right before the Court.

“I therefore find the 1st and 2nd defendants guilty of conspiracy as charged in court one and are accordingly convicted.”

On Count two, he said, “I have relied almost entirely on Exhibits A1, A2 and A3, and a close scrutiny of the Exhibits demonstrates that Gamawa received N105, 840,000.00 in Exhibit A1, N27, 650,000.00 in Exhibit A2 and N8, 970,000.00 in Exhibit A3, summing up to N142, 460,000.00, all in the presence of, or witnessed by Gadiya.

“The content of these documents leaves no one in doubt as to who received the money, that is Gamawa who is a natural person from the Bauchi State PDP Campaign Organization (Director of Finance) which is not a designated financial institution, and for the purpose of payment to participants during the National and Presidential Elections.

“The offence under Section 1 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2012 is one of strict liability. The fact of the payment or receipt of cash in excess of the threshold alone is sufficient to ground a conviction as can be noticed in the exhibits before this court and again, I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt.

“Consequently, I find the 1st defendant guilty of the count and is accordingly convicted. The 2nd defendant is hereby discharged and acquitted on this count.”