Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has convicted five directors of the Rural Electricity Agency (REA) for their involvement in a contract scam leading to the award of a N5.2bn rural electrification project.
Those convicted by Justice Adebukola Banjoko of the Jabi division of the court are: former director of REA Samuel Ibi Gekpe, former managing director, Simon Kirdi Nanle, an accountant in REA, Kayode Orekoya, director of projects, Abdusamad Garba Hahun, assistant director, and Kayode Oyedeji, head of legal department.
Meantime, the court has absolved a former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Power, Dr. Abdullahi Aliyu, of any wrongdoing in the said N5.2bn allegation levelled against him and the directors.
The convicts were found guilty of all 65 counts preferred against them by the EFCC.
Aliyu and the five directors were prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over an allegation that they defrauded the Federal Government of N2.5bn.
Specifically, the defendants were charged to court for criminal breach of trust, which they perpetrated by awarding contract for grid extension and solar electricity from the amended 2008 budget of the REA.
The court had upheld the “no-case” submission lodged by Aliyu on appeal and he was subsequently discharged and acquitted.
In a judgementI on Friday, Justice Banjoko dismissed the application of Gekpe, the first defendant, which had challenged the jurisdiction of the court to hear the charge.
On the substantive charge, the court noted that the prosecution had established by way of evidence all ingredients of the offences levelled against the defendants.