The Economic Financial Crimes Commission has been recently bashed
for their inability to convict all the people arraigned or accused of
financial fraud. Many have concluded that all the anti-graft
commission do is media trail. The story have changed due to a recent
conviction.
The EFCC on 6th October 2016, secured a conviction of Ibrahim Buba
Gayius, the former local government boss and chief accounting officer of
Hong local government council Adamawa State, before
Justice B. B Aliyu
of Federal High Court, Yola, on 10 count charge bordering on conspiracy,
embezzlement and diversion of public funds, Fraud and abuse of office
to the tune of forty one million, one hundred thousand naira (N41.1m).
Gayius was earlier arraigned on March 2015 before Justice Aliyu,
for alleged collection of Fifty million naira (N50m) agric loan on
behalf of the members of the staff of the council but instead, he gave
out less than ten million (N10m) to them and diverted the remaining
amount for his personal use.
One of the charge reads,
“that you Ibrahim Buba Gayius, being
the former chairman, and chief accounting officer of Hong local
government council Adamawa State, and in such capacity sometimes between
December 2009 and January 2010 in Hong local government council Adamawa
State, within the jurisdiction of this Court, Federal High Court of
Nigeria, did transfer and spend nineteen million naira (N19m) funds made
of agric loan for the local government staff to another unapproved
project of drilling machine and thereby committed an offence punishable
under section 22 (4) of the corrupt practices and Other Related Offences
Act, 2000.”
Justice Aliyu, after consideration of the weight of the offence
convicted and sentenced the convict to seven years imprisonment on each
of the ten count charge and the sentence to run concurrently.
The prosecution counsel Israel Akande prayed the Court for the
convict to restitute the money back to the council which Court granted
and ordered the convict for the restitution of thirty eight million,
four hundred and twenty thousand, two hundred naira (N38,420,000.000)
back to Hong local government council.
0 Comments