By Ademuyiwa Balikis
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced Mr. Garuba Mohammed Duku, a retired Director of Finance and Administration with the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) under the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), to 24 years imprisonment for diverting ₦318 million in public funds.
The conviction followed a six-count charge filed against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for offences bordering on corruption and money laundering.
Delivering judgment, Justice James Omotosho found Duku guilty on all six counts of corruption and money laundering and sentenced him to four years imprisonment on each count. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The court also gave him an option of fine, amounting to five times the sum of the money involved in each of the counts, bringing the total fine to about ₦1.6 billion.
According to court records, Duku, while serving as Director of Finance and Administration of AMMC between 2012 and 2013, diverted ₦318,250,000 from the council’s account into his personal Fidelity Bank account. The funds were reportedly moved in several tranches, ₦56.25 million, ₦71 million, ₦53 million, ₦54 million, ₦46 million, and ₦36.3 million.
Evidence presented before the court showed that he transferred part of the funds to Bureau de Change operators for personal use. During trial, Duku claimed he had handed over the funds in dollars to some senior officials, but the court dismissed his defence, ruling that he failed to produce evidence to support his claim.
The judge also noted that witnesses testified that Duku directed them to issue certificates of completion for projects that were never inspected.With the judgment, Duku is to serve his sentence at the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja, as directed by the court.
The conviction followed years of investigation and prosecution by the ICPC, which had charged him with abuse of office and diversion of public funds belonging to the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council.
