Tag: Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)

More than one year after the Court of Appeal in Abuja sentenced a former Assistant Director in the Federal Civil Service, John Yakubu Yusuf, to a two-year jail term upon his conviction for the theft of about N24 billion from the Police Pension Funds, the convict is still walking about as a free man.

The Nation learnt that the agency that prosecuted the case and appealed up to the Court of Appeal – the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) – failed to ensure the enforcement of the judgment given in its favour.

Over a year after the March 22, 2018 judgment of the Court of Appeal, which reversed an earlier judgment of High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and sentenced Yusuf to a cumulative term of six years (two-year per count on a three-count charge), Yusuf has not been made to serve the jail term.

Enquiries at the EFCC and the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) confirmed that Yusuf is not in prison but currently living as a free man and has not made any further refunds in contravention of the express orders of the Court of Appeal.

One of Yusuf’s lawyers told The Nation that the convict has since appealed the Court of Appeal judgment at the Supreme Court, but conceded that such an appeal cannot act as a stay of the execution of the judgment.

The lawyer, who sought not to be named, said: “The practice is that he will be in prison and pursue his appeal from there. He could only be released if his appeal succeeds. If it fails, he will be made to serve the entire term of imprisonment.”

Following a plea-bargain arraignment with EFCC, Yusuf had pleaded guilty to a three-count charge in which he was accused by the EFCC of stealing about N24 billion from the Police Pension Funds.

Based on his plea, Justice Abubakar Talba of the High Court of the FCT in Gudu, in a judgment on January 28, 2013, convicted Yusuf and sentenced him to a two-year imprisonment per count with an option of N250,000 fine per count.

Yusuf chose the fine option and paid N750,000 in 2013.

Embarrassed by the manner the judge handled the Yusuf case, the National Judicial Council (NJC) castigated Justice Talba for what it called “unreasonable exercise of judicial discretion” and suspended him for 12 months without pay.

In a statement conveying the NJC’s decision, NJC’s spokesman Soji Oye said: “The NJC under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, GCON, at its meeting on April 24 and 25, 2013, suspended Justice Abubakar Mahmud Talba of the FCT High Court from office for a period of 12 months without pay.

“Justice Talba was suspended from office following the findings by the Council that he did not exercise his discretion judicially and judiciously with regard to the sentences he passed on one of the accused persons, Mr. John Yakubu Yusuf, in the police pension case of FRN Vs Esai Dangabar and five others.

“It will be recalled that the NJC at its emergency meeting which was held on February 20, 2013, set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the allegations levelled against Justice Talba in the Police Pension case of FRN vs Esai Dangabar and five others.

“The Council, however, observed that the charges that had been brought by EFCC against Mr. John Y. Yusuf in the first charge sheet containing counts one to 10 under Section 315 of the Penal Code, which provides a maximum jail term of 14 years and fine, were dropped by the EFCC counsel and substituted with another charge sheet with only three counts under Section 309 of the Penal Code, which moulds a lesser punishment of two years imprisonment with or without option of fine.

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“The NJC, in the exercise of its disciplinary powers under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, also issued serious warning to Justice Talba to desist from unreasonable exercise of judicial discretion in all matters brought before him.

“On the various petitions written against Justice Okechukwu Okeke of the Federal High Court, who is to retire from service on May 18, 2013, the Council considered his responses and decided to seriously warn him.”

The EFCC appealed Talba’s decision and, in its judgment on March 22, 2018, the Appeal Court, Abuja, upheld the prosecution’s appeal, upturned Talba’s judgment and imposed two years’ imprisonment per count (without an option of fine) and ordered Yusuf to refund N22.9 billion to the Federal Government.

Yusuf has appealed the Court of Appeal judgment at the Supreme Court.

When asked why Yusuf was not serving his jail term, EFCC’s spokesman Tony Orilade argued that it is not part of the agency’s responsibilities to ensure that a defendant against whom it secured conviction and sentence serves the jail term.

He said: “After a successful appeal by the EFCC, the appellate court, on March 22, 2018, upturned Justice Talba’s judgment and handed Yusuf a six-year jail term.

“He was further asked to pay a more adequate fine of N20 billion, N1.4 billion and N1.5 billion on counts 17, 18 and 19, totalling N22.9 billion.

“If there is any question(s) on the whereabouts of the convict, it should not be directed at the EFCC but the relevant agency that should take custody of Yusuf.”

NPS spokesman Francis Enobore said he was not familiar with the Yusuf case.

He argued that it was impossible for the Prison Service to, on its own, scout for individuals to be imprisoned.

Enobore said it was the duty of the prosecuting agency, with arresting powers, to ensure that a person against whom it secured conviction and sentence is delivered to the prison authorities, accompanied with the decision of the court, for the purpose of serving the sentence.

He added that in the case of the EFCC, there ought to be no excuses because the commission carries out arrests and has the power to ensure that a convict is delivered to the prison authorities to serve his/her jail term.

The Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Lagos State chapter, has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for report on the investigation conducted into the alleged Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) housing scheme fraud.

Chairperson Hajia Sekinah Lawal made the request on Monday at a news conference in Ikeja.

She said after two years of investigation into the alleged fraud, she expected the EFCC to present the report of its findings.

Lawal expressed frustration about the failure of the EFCC to disclose the outcome of its investigations into the alleged NUJ housing scheme fraud.

“We call on the leadership of the EFCC in Lagos to summon the courage to issue a report on their findings after two years of investigation and proceed to do the needful,” she said.

The NAWOJ chairperson said no fewer than 800 persons, mostly journalists, subscribed to the housing scheme, which was suspected to be fraudulent.

She lamented that the EFCC had been silent for too long on a petition submitted two years ago by 26 of the subscribers and called for a probe of NAWOJ President Ifeyinwa Omowole over the failed housing scheme.

Lawal, who addressed reporters with the NUJ Chairman, The Nation chapel, Mr. Musa Odoshimokhe, alleged that the election conducted last Thursday by NAWOJ, Lagos chapter, was null and void, having been conducted in disobedience to a court order.

“The election came amid a struggle to get justice for our members who had lost about N150 million in a fraudulent housing scheme, spearheaded by Mrs. Omowole, who saw a window of opportunity in the planned Lagos NAWOJ election to wrest power from the vocal incumbent chairperson of NAWOJ, Hajia Sekinah Lawal, and subscribers who were prosecuting a case against her (Omowole).

“After suffering the inaction of the past national and state leadership of the NUJ in the last three years regarding the housing fraud, some of the subscribers even reported those involved to the EFCC.

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“Mrs. Omowole openly boasted that nothing would come out of the EFCC and truly, the EFCC seems to have stopped working on the fraud case,” Lawal alleged.

She said the May 23 poll could not stand as it was conducted against the order of the National Industrial Court (NIC).

Vowing that the housing scheme subscribers would do everything legally possible to get justice, Lawal urged the EFCC to release its probe report on the alleged housing fraud.

“There shall be no retreat and no surrender in our collective struggle for justice, as we rest assured that the harder the struggle, the more glorious shall be our triumph,” she said.

Odoshimokhe said the NUJ is in disarray, adding: “If we don’t put our heads together to nip all these crises in the bud now, it will become a monster that will haunt all of us.”

He alleged that Omowole was at the centre of the crises at the Lagos State council “because she has an anointed candidate, as a result, she arranged the so-called electoral committee to favour her candidate in the botched election.”

Odoshimokhe said: “We are against this. The electoral committee set the constitution aside. If the constitution is to be set aside, it should encompass everything, not that you set aside certain areas and uphold some areas because those areas you’re upholding are only favourable to you. Our members who came there to partake in that election were not allowed to participate. They were chased out and some of them were even rough handled. Given that as it may, even when a constituted court of competent jurisdiction sent its bailiff to serve a summons on the electoral committee that the election should be stopped, they still went ahead to hold that election.

“As far as we are concerned at The Nation, that election has not held. That election was one-sided and it was only done by the so-called Public Relations Officers (PROs) in the Ministry of Information. The Nation, The Sun, The Guardian and some other chapels were disenfranchised. Therefore, there was no election. There’s a court process on the ground. We may even go ahead to sue them for disenfranchising our members. Our members have paid their dues. You cannot come overnight and say people should pay N3000 whereas they have paid as members of NUJ. The money was deducted from the source. It is left for the NUJ to remit whatever it has for NAWOJ. By double taxing them with N3000, that has not been the process. The NAWOJ election is a charade. It cannot stand, we are against it and we cannot accept it in any way.”