N319m Fraud: Appeal Court rejects jailed ex-FCTA Director’s plea for bail.

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri, Abuja

The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has dismissed an application filed by a convicted former Director of Finance and Administration in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Mr Garba Mohammed Dukku, seeking his release from prison custody.

Dukku, who worked under the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) of the FCTA, is serving a 24-year prison term for diverting public funds to the tune of N319 million.

He was found guilty by the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges bordering on corruption and money laundering.

Trial Justice James Omotosho found him guilty on a six-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/608/2022, filed against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

The ICPC had established that the convict, between 2012 and 2013, fraudulently diverted a total sum of N318,250,000 belonging to the AMMC into his personal Fidelity Bank account in various tranches, including N56.25 million, N71 million, N53 million, N54 million, N46 million, and N36.3 million.

The Commission further proved that the diverted funds were subsequently transferred to bureau de change operators for unauthorised purposes.

Although Mr Dukku had, during the trial, claimed that the funds were handed over to his superiors, his defence was dismissed by the court, which pointed out the lack of credible evidence to support it.

As an alternative to the prison term, the trial court gave the convict the option of paying a fine equivalent to five times the amount involved in each count of the charge, which would amount to about N1.6 billion.

Meanwhile, the convict, who had since commenced his prison term, approached the Court of Appeal to be released on bail pending the determination of an appeal he lodged against his conviction and sentence.

In dismissing the bail application, the appellate court held that nothing was placed before it to sway its discretion in favour of the convict.

In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, the appellate court held that the applicant had failed to show any exceptional circumstance to warrant his release from prison custody.

It therefore dismissed the bail request for want of merit.

However, the appellate court granted an accelerated hearing of the substantive appeal filed by the convict.

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