A federal high court in Abuja has convicted Doyin Okupe, director-general of the Peter Obi presidential campaign, for breaching the money laundering act.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Okupe in 2019 on a 59-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering and diversion of funds to the tune of N702 million.
He was arraigned before Ijeoma Ojukwu, the presiding judge, alongside two companies – Value Trust Investment Ltd and Abrahams Telecoms Ltd.
Okupe was said to have received cash from the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) while Sambo Dasuki was in office.
Delivering the judgement on Monday, the court said the Acts provides that no individual or organization shall receive any sum above N5 million and N10 million respectively without passing through a financial institution, the judge held that “there is no evidence that the money passed through a financial institution”.
According to Justice Ojukwu, the NSA was not a financial institution, adding that even if the President was said to have authorized the funds, he did not say that the money must be paid in cash in violation of money laundering.
Consequently, the court found Okupe guilty of contravening sections 16(1)&(2) of the Money Laundering Act.
The matter was subsequently stood down until 1:45 pm to allow the convict (Okupe) to call witnesses to testify about his character, as enshrined under Section 310 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA).
The sentencing is expected to be delivered after the process must have been concluded.
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