Supreme Court affirms 6-year jail term for ex-pension director
The Supreme Court of Nigeria on Wednesday, in Abuja, affirmed the six years imprisonment imposed on a former Federal Director of Pensions (FDP), Mr John Yakubu Yusuf, and also ordered him to refund N22.9bn to government coffers.
The N22.9bn was part of the Police Pension Fund Yusuf admitted before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to have been misappropriated.
Justice Tijjani Abubakar in a judgment in an appeal filed by Yusuf, upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal which in 2018 sent him to six years imprisonment, in addition to the refund of the huge sum.
The apex court held that Yusuf and others engaging in fraudulent practices must be told through court judgments that it was no longer business as usual and it consequently handed two years imprisonment for each of the three-count charge.
Justice Abubakar said that the appeal of the former federal pension director seeking to set aside the six years jail term against him by the appellate court was frivolous, vexatious and devoid of merit.
He further held that victims of the convicted director’s graft deserve restitution which can only be achieved through justice.
Yusuf had dragged the federal government before the apex court seeking to overturn the six years imprisonment slammed on him by the Court of Appeal.
The former pensions director, who is serving the six years jail term at the Kuje Custodial Centre had also asked the Supreme Court to set aside the whopping sum of N22.9 billion he was ordered to refund the government by the Court of Appeal in the 2018 verdict.
He was sent to prison in 2018 by the Court of Appeal in Abuja upon being found guilty of defrauding the federal government to the tune of N22.9billion through Police Pensions.
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