The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, convicted Doyin Okupe, for money laundering.

Okupe is the director-general of Peter Obi’s Labour (LP) presidential campaign council.

He was also a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Delivering the judgment on Monday, the judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu, held that Okupe was guilty of contravening sections 16(1)&(2) of the Money Laundering Act, for receiving cash payments without going through a bank, in excess of the threshold statutorily allowed.

But Ojukwu had stood down proceedings till 1:45 p.m. to enable Mr Okupe to call witnesses to testify about his character.

Thereafter, the court proceeded to sentence Mr Okupe.

Background

In January 2019, the EFCC arraigned Okupe alongside two companies – Value Trust Investment Ltd and Abrahams Telecoms Ltd, over allegations of N702 million fraud.

He was charged with 59 counts bordering on “money laundering and criminal diversion of funds” to the tune of N702 million from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), which was headed by Sambo Dasuki.

While closing its case, an EFCC witness, Shuaibu Salisu, a former Director of Administration and Finance at the ONSA, said in 2012, he was directed to make a payment of N50 million to him.”

He further said he was also directed by the ONSA ”to be paying N10 million monthly to Okupe for over two years”, which he said was reduced to a monthly N5 million towards the end of 2014 due to paucity of funds.

Also, Salisu recalled paying another N50 million in cash to Okupe on the orders of Dasuki, who equally faces charges at the Federal and FCT High Courts in Abuja.

Salisu told the court that “sometime in 2012, Okupe came to the Office of the National Security Adviser, and after their discussion, I was directed to make a payment of N50 million to him.”

According to him, “Okupe provided his account details, where I paid the amount into the bank account of Value Trust Investment.”

Ojukwu, the presiding judge, sentenced Okupe to two years in prison on each of the counts.

However, the sentence is to run concurrently.

Additionally, the judge said the convict is at liberty to pay a N500,000 fine on each of the counts — totalling N13 million.

PT/The Cable