Enugu High Court convicts Igbinedion, fines him N3.5 million

Former governor of Edo State , Chief Lucky Igbinedion, was yesterday convicted of corruption by the Federal High Court in Enugu in a trial initiated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

But the charge which were at the last count 191, were on December 17, 2008 narrowed down to one after a plea bargain the ex-governor entered into with the anti-graft commission.

The new one-count charge that led to Igbinedion’s conviction read: "That you Lucky Nosakhare Igbinedion (former governor of Edo State) on or about 21st January 2008 within the jurisdiction of this honourable court neglected to make a declaration of your interest in the Account No: 4124013983110 with a new generation bank (Name withheld) in the declaration of assets form of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 27 (3) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act 2008."
When the court read out this new charge to Igbinedion he did not waste time to plead guilty, making the presiding judge, Justice Abdul Tafarati, to sentence him to a fine of N3.5 million which is equal to the amount in the said account.

The judge asked the EFCC to remand him in its custody pending the time he would pay the fine, but as at the time Igbinedion was driven out of the court premises in a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), the EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs was still in the court premises and it was not clear whether the convict had paid the fine or not.

But in a swift reaction, the EFCC through its spokesman, Mr Femi Babafemi, told Daily Sun on phone that the commission rejected the sentence and was going on appeal right away.
Babafemi also issued a press statement, saying the outcome of the exercise at the court in Enugu fell short of the EFCC’s expectation.

"It is believed that the essence of a plea bargain is not only for suspects to forfeit the proceeds of crime but that such should go with a sentence which will serve as deterrence.
"In view of this development, the Chairman of the EFCC, Mrs Farida Waziri has instructed the commission’s counsel to file an appeal against the verdict immediately.
"The commission will rather go the long way of prosecution than to settle for a plea bargain verdict that has no bite or will not serve any deterrence purpose," the statement said.

Also in a chat with newsmen after the judgment, counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Jacobs (SAN) said he was shocked by the option of fine handed down to Igbinedion, adding that they had expected the court to have committed Igbinedion to prison going by the degree of his offence.
Jacobs, however, added that "the fact that a former governor has been convicted is enough as this has made him (Igbinedion) to fall from grace to grass."

Igbinedion who arrived at the court at about 10: 20 a.m. in company of a few aides looked very sober as he was standing in the dock.
His counsel, however, at about 11:05 a.m. pleaded with the presiding judge that the ex-governor be allowed to sit down close to the dock, which was obliged him.

In his plea before the sentence, counsel to Igbinedion, Mr Adetunji Oyeyipo (SAN) told the court that his client was outside the country in January 2008 when the EFCC filed the suit against him in court and he voluntarily returned home to face the charge.
Besides, he said: "Your lordship will observe from records and conduct of the accused person in court that he has never been absent from court, his comportment in court has always been sober, pensive and respectful."

Oyeyipo, still pleading with the judge, said that all the time the former governor was allowed to travel out of the country, he had always returned home to continue to face his trial in court.
"With regards to the charge, the first accused is charged with the offence of neglecting to make declaration; he did not willfully or knowingly refuse to disclose his interest in an account," he said.

Oyeyipo told the court that the N3.5 million stated by the prosecutor "is not an amount he will ordinarily want to hide," urging him to consider in his sentence the stature of Igbinedion before he became governor of Edo State and as a former governor to impose on him the mildest punishment.
In all, the EFCC brought a fresh 24-count charge with 23 against Kiva Corporation Limited, which also was found guilty and asked to refund N500 million just as three properties owned by the former governor were seized.

One of the aides of the former governor who spoke of record with Daily Sun, however, pointed out that it would be unfair to expect the court to impose any more punishment on Igbinedion than it already did. According to him, of all the 24-count charge, which the EFCC brought, only one was specifically against his principal. The others, he said, were against Kiva Corporation Ltd.