Mr. John Yakubu Yusufu, one of those charged to court over the N39bn scam in the Nigerian Police Pension Fund, has been sentenced to a two-year jail term by an Abuja High Court.
The court handed down the light punishment on Monday after the suspect finally pleaded guilty to conniving with Mr. Essai Dangabar, Atiku Abubakar Kigo, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, Mrs. Veronica Ulonma, Sani Habila Zira, Mrs Uzoma Cyril Attang and Mr. Christian Madubuike to convert N24.2bn, N1.3bn and N1.7bn, respectively, belonging to the Pension Office for their individual reasons and use.
Their offence is punishable under Section 309 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria 2007.
When the case came up at the court, Yusufu, who had always pleaded not guilty to the charges, suddenly pleaded guilty to Counts 18, 19 and 20 of the amended 20 count charges brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Other suspects — including the two more persons introduced by the amended charges, Mrs. Uzoma Cyril Attang and Mr. Christian Madubuike — respectively pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Immediately Yusufu pleaded guilty, leader of the prosecution team, Mr. Rotimi Jacob asked the court to convict him. He asked the court to order the forfeiture of his 13 properties in Gombe State and Abuja, and the sum of N325m found in his account because the properties and money were proceeds from the corrupt enrichment.
He urged that the forfeited properties be sold and the proceeds returned to the purse of the Pension Fund since that was where the money was first taken from.
Pleading for leniency for his client, Yusufu’s counsel, Mr. Maiyaki Theodore Bala, urged the court to consider the remorse that his client had shown remorse, saying that by pleading guilty, his client had shown respect to the court and had saved the court precious time in handling the case.
“The court will also find that he is a first-time offender without any previous record of conviction. Furthermore, he is the head of a family of four, a wife and three children, two of whom are university students while one is a primary school pupil,” Maiyaki pleaded.
“These people depend on him for their survival and wellbeing, including the payment of school fees. It is also pertinent to note that he has a chronic heart condition, which has aggravated to a serious case of high blood pressure, a condition that requires frequent medical attention. His aged parents are still alive and due to old age, have attendant medical complications which require regular medical attention and both depend on him to deal with these.”
He said with the application for the complete forfeiture of properties and money of his client, it meant his client would not have any belonging. He pleaded with the court to use its discretion, as empowered under Section 309 of the Penal Code so that his client could be given an option of fine
Presiding judge, Justice Talba Mohammed declared that the court had put all the lawyer’s argument into consideration and that its judgement was because of its responsibility to the people of the country, especially those who have been denied better living condition as a result of corruption.
He reminded the suspect and his counsel that Section 309 of the Penal Code under which they were charged, provides for two years imprisonment with an option of fine or both.
He therefore sentenced Yusufu to two years concurrent terms of imprisonment for each of the counts or N250,000 before adjourning trial of the other accused persons to 26th February.
