Court Convicts Peter Obi’s Campaign DG, Okupe Of Money Laundering

A Court has convicted Peter Obi’s Campaign DG, Okupe, of money laundering.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that a Federal High Court in Abuja has convicted the Director General of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the Labour Party (LP), Doyin Okupe, of breaching the Money Laundering Act.

In a judgement on Monday, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the High Court found Okupe guilty of contravening sections 16(1)&(2) of the Money Laundering Act.

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The high court justice said Okupe was guilty of the above for collecting cash payments in excess of the threshold allowed under the Act without going through a financial institution.

According to her, the embattled Labour Party DG was reported to have received hundreds of millions in cash from the National Security Adviser (NSA) office while Col. Sambo Dasuki (retired) was in office.

However, Justice Ojukwu stood down proceedings till 1:45 pm for Okupe to exercise his right under Section 310 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) to call witnesses to testify about his character before the court could proceed to pronounce sentence on the convict.

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”.

According to Justice Ojuwku, the NSA was 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 the money laundering Act.

Consequently, the court held, “I find the first defendant, Dr Doyin Okupe guilty in counts 34, 35, 36…… 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 Jonathan.

The said sum, according to him, were 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.

Shortly after his conviction, his lawyer Mr Francis Oronsaye pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy on the grounds that the defendant was a first-time offender, a family man who is also advanced in age and having health challenges that he was currently treating in Nigeria and outside the country.

Oronsaye, citing Section 310 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, urged the court to stand down the matter to enable him to call witnesses that would attest to the good character of Okupe.

Lawyers to the second and third defendants also lend their voices in the plea for mercy, adding that the convict was a mere victim of circumstances.

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Although the request was opposed by the prosecution lawyer, Mr Audu Ibrahim, the judge stood down the matter to enable the defendant to call his witnesses before handing down her sentence.

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