A former Director of Finance and Administration with the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Mr. Garuba Duku, has been sentenced to 24 years imprisonment for diverting ₦318 million belonging to the council.
The conviction was secured by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) before the Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice James Omotosho.
According to a statement on Thursday by the ICPC Director of Public Enlightenment and Education, Mr. Demola Bakare, Duku was found guilty on a six-count charge bordering on corruption and money laundering in case number FHC/ABJ/CR/608/2022.
Investigations by the commission revealed that between 2012 and 2013, Duku fraudulently diverted ₦318,250,000 from AMMC accounts into his personal Fidelity Bank account.
The funds were reportedly received in instalments of ₦56.25 million, ₦71 million, ₦53 million, ₦54 million, ₦46 million, and ₦36.3 million, and later transferred to Bureau de Change operators for unauthorized purposes.
During the trial, Duku claimed he handed the funds to his superiors, but the court dismissed his defence for lack of evidence.
Justice Omotosho, in his ruling, held that the ICPC had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, describing the prosecution’s evidence as credible, consistent, and sufficient to establish the offences charged.
The judge consequently sentenced Duku to four years’ imprisonment on each of the six counts, to run concurrently, with an option of a fine equivalent to five times the amount involved in each count — amounting to about ₦1.6 billion.
Reacting to the judgment, Bakare hailed the conviction as a major milestone in the commission’s anti-corruption drive.
“This judgment underscores ICPC’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that public officers who betray the trust reposed in them are brought to justice,” he stated.
He added that no public official is above the law, emphasizing that corruption would not go unpunished under the ICPC’s watch.
PUNCH Online recalls that in May 2024, the ICPC also secured the conviction of a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Commandant, Christopher Oluchukwu, for defrauding job seekers.
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Similarly, in 2019, a former ICPC board nominee, Dr. Saad Alanamu, and a contractor, Salman Sulaiman, were sentenced to 24 years in jail for bribery-related offences.