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The Federal High Court in Abuja has directed Garba Mohammed Duku, a retired Director of Administration and Finance at the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), to return N1,592,750,000 (N1.6 billion) to the Federal Government or serve four years in prison.
Justice James Omotosho gave the ruling on Thursday after convicting Duku on charges of corruption and money laundering. The six-count charge was filed by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). Duku reportedly retired from the AMMC in 2014.
The offences were said to have been committed between 2012 and 2013, during which Duku allegedly diverted N318,550,000, originally transferred from the AMMC, into his personal Fidelity Bank account.
Justice Omotosho stated that the defendant received various payments into the account, including N56,250,000 on 23 July 2012, N71 million in December 2012, N53 million on 7 December 2012, N54 million in December 2012, N46 million on 8 March 2013, and N36,300,000 on 21 March 2013.
The judge noted that Duku was unable to justify why such large sums from his employer were deposited into a personal account he had opened just a year before in 2011 and which went dormant immediately after his retirement.
He observed that Duku failed to provide satisfactory evidence on how the funds were used for any official project. He further noted that the rapid withdrawal of the funds in large sums, with part of it allegedly converted to United States dollars through bureau de change operators, raised suspicion of wrongdoing.
Justice Omotosho also stated that in his statement to the ICPC, the defendant claimed to have handed over some of the money in dollars to his superiors, a claim the court said he failed to support with evidence.
The judge remarked that some subordinates of the defendant, who testified as prosecution witnesses, said they were instructed to issue certificates of completion for projects they did not inspect. According to the court, a claim that the defendants also failed to disprove.
He dismissed the argument made by Duku’s lawyer that the funds were lawfully appropriated, stating that even when funds are appropriated, they are still meant for specific public projects and not personal use.
Justice Omotosho ruled that the prosecution had proven all elements of the offences and established its case beyond a reasonable doubt, relying on the testimonies of three witnesses.
He further held that Duku, who testified alone in his defence, failed to counter the prosecution’s evidence.
Consequently, the court found Duku guilty on all six counts.
In his plea for leniency, Duku claimed he could not clearly remember all that transpired during his service years when he gave his statements to investigators, and he begged the court for mercy.
Justice Omotosho then sentenced him to four years in prison for each count. However, he was given the option of a fine equal to five times the amount stated in each count.
Specifically, he is to refund N355 million for count one, N230 million for count two, N270 million for count three, N266.25 million for count four, N280 million for count five, and N191.5 million for count six.
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