Dr Doyin Okupe, a former Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, was on Monday sentenced to two years in Prison after being found guilty of receiving over N200m cash from a former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd).
Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of a Federal High Court in Abuja, hammered Okupe with the prison Sentence with an option of N500, 000 fine on each of the 26 count charges for which he was found guilty.
She held that Okupe, who is the first defendant in the suit filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission violated the Money Laundering Act adding that he had up to 4.30 pm to pay the fine option totalling N13m on all the charges he was found guilty of or be sent to the Kuje Correctional Centre.
Justice Ojukwu, in sentencing Okupe, considered the pleadings for leniency from the convict’s wife, Omolola, and his son, Adesunkanmi.
“There is no evidence that the money passed through a financial institution” and that Okupe was not a financial institution, and that, even if the president was said to have authorised the funds, he did not say that the money must be paid in cash.
However, the Former Presidential aide was able to pay the fine before the deadline. He paid and they returned with the bank papers around 4.25pm. The court processed it, and everybody signed, including the EFCC lawyer.
