From Yakubu Busari, Jos
A Federal High Court sitting in Jos Division on Tuesday sentenced the former minister of Water Resources, Sarah Ochekpe, ex-Chairman of People Democratic Party ,PDP,Hon. Raymond Dabo and Evangelist Leo Sunday Jitong to six years imprisonment each.
The three were standing trial for money laundering and diversion of 2015 campaign funds. The suit with No. FHC/J/141C/2017 before the court on a two-count charge was filed by the EFCC, alleging conspiracy and laundering.
The accused persons were sentenced by Justice Musa Kurya for misappropriation ,diversion and indiscriminate withdrawal of money through a new generation Bank account .
They have been standing trial for the past four years on charges bordering on conspiracy and money laundering.
However, the trial judge gave the accused an option of fine of One Million Naira (N1,000,000).
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ,EFCC, arraigned a former Minister of Water Resources, Sarah Ochekpe, a former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Plateau State, Raymond Dabo, before the Federal High Court in Jos for alleged embezzlement of N450 million.
The three accused were charged with illegally receiving the money from a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to finance the re-election campaign of former President Goodluck Jonathan and his Vice-President.
“You would recall that at the first hearing of the suit, Mrs. Ochekpe told trial judge, Musa Kurya, that she handed over the said sum to the PDP governorship candidate in the 2015 gubernatorial election in the state, the late Gyang Pwajok “.
Mr. Pwajok died in an Indian hospital after a protracted aliment after the election which he lost to Simon Lalong of the All Progressives Congress.
EFCC prosecution counsel, Yusuf Muchaka, said the accused persons breached the law by receiving money they knew was corruptly sourced.
He supported the charge with an affidavit sworn to by Olayinka Rotimi, an operative with EFCC who was part of the team that investigated the case.
A staff of Fidelity Bank, Mrs. Anne Gyen, had told the Jos division of the Federal High Court 2 that she cashed out the sum of N450 million for the former Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Reng Ochekpe and two others in 2015.
Mrs. Anne Gyen, who testified before Justice Musa Kurya, as principal witness to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said she was head of operation in the Jos branch of the bank when the former Minister, Mrs. Ochekpe, the former Acting Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau state, Raymond Dabo and the state campaign coordinator of Goodluck Jonathan, Evangelist LeoSunday Jitong, went and withdrew the amount. She said:
“I had received a mail from our head office in Lagos ordering me that beneficiaries identified as Sarah Ochekpe, Raymond Dabo and Evangelist LeoJitong would come to our bank and make a withdrawal of N450m.”
She further told the court that the branch was short of the cash but that she went to Jos branch of the CBN to get the money.
“We did’t have the money in our branch, that makes me to go to CBN Jos branch, and after due process I collected the sum of N450 million and took the cash to my bank.
The beneficiaries came to my bank to collect the money,” she added.
The witness told the court that, having verified the beneficiaries by their valid identify cards, she paid then them the amount, saying: “Sarah presented her ID card of Federal Ministry of Water Resources, while Raymond Dabo presented Voters Card and Evangelist Leo, presented driver’s license and I gave them withdrawal instrument which required them to write their names, signatures and phone numbers.”
She tendered the withdrawal documents in support of her oral testimony.
However, defence counsel, Barr. Sunday Oyawole, argued that the witness was not the maker of the tendered documents, and therefore urged the court to discard it.
