Two INEC officials jailed 42 years over N362m Diezani Maduekwe’s bribe

A Yola High Court, presided over by Justice Nathan Musa, has sentenced two officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to 21 years imprisonment each for receiving a bribe of N362 million from former Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Maduekwe, during the 2015 general election.
The convicts, Ibrahim Mohammed and Sahabo Iya-Hamman, were arraigned before the court by EFCC alongside Maduekwe (still at large), under the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.
Delivering judgement on Thursday, Justice Musa said that going by testimonies from 15 witnesses who appeared before the court and the suspects’ responses, it was clear that they were guilty of the offence.
Justice Musa said that although N362 million was received by the officials, they only shared five per cent of the money to other staff of the commission leaving the balance unaccounted for.
He, however, said that following plea by their counsel, they have been sentenced to seven years each on each of the three count charges, adding that the sentence will run concurrently.
The judge also urged the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Muhammad Adamu, to liaise with the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) to arrest the third respondent (Maduekwe) so she can face her charges.