[FILE] Former Senior Special Assistant to former President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Mr. Doyin Okupe.
The Federal High Court Abuja has found Doyin Okupe guilty of receiving over N200 million cash from former National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki.
Okupe is the Director General of Peter Obi’s Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).
Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu on Monday held that the action of Okupe, who is the first defendant in the suit filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), violated the Money Laundering Act.
While stating that the Act provides that no individual or organization shall receive any sum above N5 million and N10 million respectively without passing through a financial institution, the judge held that “there is no evidence that the money passed through a financial institution”.
Justice Ojukwu said the NSA is not a financial institution, adding that even if the president was said to have authorized the funds, he did not say that the money must be paid in cash in violation of money laundering.
Consequently, the court held that the first defendant, Dr Okupe was guilty in counts 34, 35, 36, and 59.
The Judge, however, found the defendants not guilty in counts 1 to 33 on the grounds that the prosecution failed to establish the charge of money laundering and criminal breach of trust and corruption against the NSA.
In counts 34 to 59 upon which Okupe was convicted, he was accused of receiving various sums ranging from N10 million on different occasions from 2012 to 2015 when he was SSA to President Goodluck Jonathan.
The said sum, according to him, was expended on running the office, payment of staff, and image laundering of the former president and his administration.
But the court held that receiving such amounts in cash violated the Money Laundering Act.
Justice Ojukwu sentenced Okupe to two years in prison on each of the counts and stated that the sentence is to run concurrently.
