THE Federal High Court in Jos, Plateau State, has convicted former Minister of Water Resources, Sarah Ochekpe, and two others for money laundering involving N450 million traced to funds said to have been fraudulently distributed by former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, in 2015.
According to a statement signed by EFCC’s spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, on Tuesday, Ms Ochekpe and two others were jailed six years with an option of fine.
The judge, H. M. Kurya, sentenced the convicts after finding them guilty of three charges of conspiracy and money laundering.
The two other convicts are Evan Jitong and Raymond Dabo. While Mr Jitong served as a deputy director for the Goodluck/Sambo 2015 election campaign, Mr Dabo served as acting chairman of PDP in Plateau State.
The three convicts were accused of N450 million from Fidelity Bank Plc through cash and wire transfer by some oil companies and former Petroleum Resources Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to influence the outcome of the 2015 presidential election.
In the court’s judgement, the judge convicted on a count of conspiracy to accept cash payment above threshold under the anti-money laundering law. They were sentenced to three years’ imprisonment with an option of N2 million fine each.
The judge also convicted and sentenced them to three years’ imprisonment with an option of N2 million fine each on the second count. The sentences are to run consecutively.
The court discharged and acquitted them on the third count of retention of funds.
The commission said investigation showed that on March 26, 2015, the N450 million was withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by Fidelity Bank Plc, Jos main branch, and it was handed over to the defendants in cash after they signed for its collection.
“Though the defendants claimed that they handed over the money to late Senator Gyang Pwajok, the Plateau State PDP governorship candidate in 2015, they however failed to provide any evidence to support the claim,” the statement said.
Mrs Alison-Madueke, who is believed to have escaped to the United Kingdom and remained there after her exit from public office, ran the petroleum ministry which superintends over the opaque Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) between 2010 and 2015 under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Her name has featured either as the main defendant or an accomplice in numerous corruption cases filed in court by the EFCC since her exit from office.
Bringing her back to Nigeria to face pending charges against her has proved to be a hard nut to crack for the EFCC.
