By Abdul Hassan
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced Mr Garuba Duku, a retired Director of Finance and Administration with the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council under the Federal Capital Territory Administration, to 24 years in prison.
Duku was earlier arraigned in 2022 by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPT) in suit number FHC/ABJ/CR/608/2022 over a ₦318 million fraud.
Delivering judgment, Justice James Omotosho convicted Duku on the six-count charge of corruption and money laundering and sentenced him accordingly.
“The prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt”, as the evidence presented by the ICPC “was credible, consistent, and sufficient to establish the offences charged.
“The convict is hereby sentenced to four years’ imprisonment on each of the six counts or an option of fine equivalent to five times the amount involved in each count amounting to about ₦1.6 billion.
“The sentences are to run concurrently,” the judge held.
The ICPC had claimed that between 2012 and 2013, Duku fraudulently diverted ₦318,250,000 belonging to AMMC into his personal account with Fidelity Bank Plc.
The funds were received in several instalments — ₦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.
ICPC prosecutors had told the court that the transactions violated government financial regulations and that Duku’s actions were “a clear abuse of public trust.”
During the trial, Duku had claimed that the funds were handed over to his superiors, but the court dismissed the claim for lack of evidence.
