The Court of Appeal in Yola, Adamawa State, has affirmed the conviction of a former electoral officer with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Yola South Local Government Area, Ibrahim Umar.
Umar and his accomplice had earlier been convicted of a three-count charge by an Adamawa State High Court and sentenced to seven years imprisonment for receiving monetary benefit (bribery) to the tune of N362 million, being part of the bribe allegedly distributed by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, to influence the outcome of the 2015 elections.
Umar was arraigned alongside a former official of a new generation bank by the EFCC on September 28, 2018.
During the trial, the EFCC called 14 witnesses and tendered several documents which were admitted in evidence.
In his judgement, Justice Nathan Musa held that EFCC proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, saying that investigation proved that the convict was identified as the person who signed and collected the said sum and was unable to account for its whereabouts.
The judge consequently convicted Umar and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine on all the counts.
Dissatisfied with the verdict, the convict approached the Court of Appeal on March 4, 2020, asking the appellate court to set aside the judgment of the lower court.
But the appellate court on April 14, dismissed the Umar’s request and unanimously affirmed the judgment of the lower court.
