Dr. Doyin Okupe, a Senior Special Advisor (SSA) to former President Goodluck Jonathan, was found guilty of receiving more than N200 million in cash from former National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on Monday.
Okupe, the first defendant in the lawsuit brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was found to have violated the Money Laundering Act, according to Justice Ojukwu’s ruling.
The judge held that “there is no evidence that the money passed through a financial institution,” despite the fact that the Act mandates that no person or organization receive any sum exceeding N5 million or N10 million without first going through a financial institution.
Justice Ojuwku asserted that the NSA was not a financial institution, and that even though it was claimed that the President had authorized the funds, he did not specify that they must be paid in cash in order to avoid breaking the Money Laundering Act.
I find the first defendant, Dr. Doyin Okupe, guilty on counts 34, 35, 36, and 59, the court declared.
The prosecution’s failure to prove the charges of money laundering, criminal breach of trust, and corruption against the NSA led the judge to find the defendants not guilty in counts 1 to 33.
Okupe was accused of accepting various payments totaling up to N10 million on numerous occasions between 2012 and 2015 while serving as President Jonathan’s SSA in counts 34 to 59, for which he was found guilty.
According to him, the aforementioned sum was used to maintain the office, pay employees, and defame the former president and his cabinet.
Receiving such sums in cash, the court determined, was against the Money Laundering Act.
After his conviction, the defendant’s attorney, Mr. Francis Oronsaye, begged the court to exercise mercy on the grounds that the defendant was a first-time offender, a family man who is also elderly and has health issues that he is currently treating in Nigeria and outside the country, as well as a first-time offender.
Invoking Section 310 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, Oronsaye pleaded with the court to adjourn the case so that he could call witnesses to attest to Okupe’s good character.
Additionally, the attorneys for the second and third defendants join in the plea for mercy, stating that the convict was merely a victim of the circumstances.
The prosecution’s attorney, Mr. Audu Ibrahim, opposed the request, but the judge decided to put the case on hold so the defendant could call witnesses before the judge gave her sentence.
