The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, convicted and sentenced Chukwunyere Nwabuoku, former acting Accountant-General of the Federation (AGoF), to a 72-year jail term without an option of fine.
Justice James Omotosho, in a judgement, held that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), through its lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, had been able to prove the nine-count money laundering charge beyond reasonable doubt.
Jutsice Omotosho, who convicted Nwabuoku in all the nine counts, sentenced him to eight years imprisonment in each of the counts, making a total of 72 years.
The judge, however, ordered that the counts shall run concurrently beginning from Monday, March 23.
Nwabuoku was admitted to a N500 million bail with two sureties in the like sum after he was arraigned on Jan. 15, 2025, on a nine-count amended charge.
The EFCC listed Nwabuoku as the sole defendant in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/240/2024, which bordered on money laundering to the tune of N868 million.
In count one of the charge filed on Nov. 27, 2024, the EFCC alleged that Nwabuoku, alongside Temeeo Synergy Concept Limited (at large), Turge Global Investment Limited (at large), Laptev Bridge Limited, Arafura Transnational Afro Limited (at large), and other persons (all at large), conspired to convert funds.
The funds were said to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
The anti-graft agency said the offence was contrary to Section 18 of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011, as amended by Act No. 1 of 2012, and punishable under Section 15(3) of the same Act.
Nwabuoku was alleged to have perpetrated the act while serving as the director of Finance and Accounts in the Ministry of Defence between 2019 and 2021.
He was later appointed Acting AGoF on May 20, 2022, under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari after Ahmed Idris was suspended as AGoF over alleged N80 billion fraud.
Nwabuoku, however, was removed in July 2022, a few weeks after assuming office.
Sylva Okolieaboh, a director at the Treasury Single Account (TSA) Department, replaced Nwabuoku as Acting AGoF.
Okolieaboh’s appointment followed a report that Nwabuoku was under the EFCC’s radar over corruption allegations.
Delivering the judgement on Monday, Justice Omotosho said that in determining the charge, the court had one issue for determination.
“Whether the prosecution has established the charge against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt to secure his conviction?” he said.
The judge earlier dismissed the argument of Nwabuoku’s lawyer, Norrison Quakers, SAN, on inadmissibility of his client’s three confessional statements.
Quakers had argued that the defendant’s statements were not voluntarily made and did not comply with the law.
But Justice Omotosho held that in challenging the admissibility of a confessional statement on the ground of involuntariness, the best time to raise the issue is at the stage of it being tendered in evidence by the prosecution, and not on appeal by way of counsel’s submissions.
The judge, who cited a previous case delivered by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, said if the counsel had raised an objection to the admissibility of the statement on the ground that it was not voluntarily made, the court would have conducted a trial-within-trial to determine the issue.Nigerian media giant
“At the point of tendering these statements, Exhibits PWT, PWV2 and Exhibit DWI were not objected to by defence counsel.
“This failure to raise the objections is deemed to be an admission that the statements were made voluntarily and thus raising same at this stage amounts to an afterthought.
“Consequently, this court is entitled to rely on the statements in the determination of this charge,” he ruled.
On the substantive issue, the judge said that the standard of proof is usually beyond reasonable doubt because criminal cases are a very serious specie of proceedings as the freedom and in some cases the life of the defendant is on the line if found guilty.
According to him, while the prosecution is not mandated to call a certain number of witnesses in proof of its case, it must call material witnesses to help it prove its case.
“The prosecution is not absolved of the duty placed on it by the law to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt even where the defendant has pleaded guilty to the charge,” he said.
While reviewing the counts, the judge found that the anti-graft agency had been able to prove all the ingredients essential in each of the counts to convict the defendant.
NAN
