Doyin Okupe pays a N13 million fine to escape jail on Monday, December 19, 2022.
Punch News broke the news that Okupe paid a 13 million Naira fine and avoided serving two years in prison.
Former Senior Special Assistant to former President Goodluck Jonathan Dr. Doyin Okupe was found guilty on Monday of accepting more than N200 million in cash from Colonel. Sambo Dasuki (retd), a former National Security Advisor.
As a result, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of a Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced him to two years in prison.
On each of the 26 counts for which he was found guilty, he was sentenced with a possible punishment of N500 000.
In presiding over the case brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Justice Ojukwu declared that Okupe, the first defendant, had broken the Money Laundering Act.
She stated that he had till 4.30 pm to choose between paying the complete N13 million fine for all the offences for which he was found guilty or being transported to the Kuje Correctional Center.
The pleas for mercy from the convict’s wife, Omolola, and his son, Adesunkanmi, were taken into consideration by Justice Ojukwu when he sentenced Okupe.
The judge held that there was “no evidence that the money passed through a financial institution” and that Okupe was not a financial institution, and even though the president was said to have authorized the funds, he did not say that the money had to be paid in cash.
This was despite the fact that the Money Laundering Act stated that no individual or organization shall receive any sum above N5 million and N10 million, respectively, without passing through a financial institution.
Because the prosecution was unable to prove that the NSA was guilty of money laundering, criminal breach of trust, and corruption, the court declared Okupe guilty in charges 34, 35, 36 to 59 and freed him on counts 1 to 33.
Okupe was charged with receiving varying amounts of money ranging from N10m on several dates between 2012 and 2015 while serving as Jonathan’s assistant in counts 34 to 59, for which he was found guilty.
He said that the aforementioned amount was used to maintain his office, pay staff members, and defame the former President and his government. Receiving such sums in cash, the court determined, was against the Money Laundering Act.
Francis Oronsaye, Okupe’s attorney, urged the court to exercise mercy because his client was a first-time criminal, a family guy who is also elderly and has health issues that he is now treating in Nigeria and abroad, and because he was a first-time offender.
Doyin Okupe Fine
However, according to the information obtained by Mandy News on The PUNCH, Okupe was able to pay his punishment ahead of time and was given permission to go.
According to a source who spoke to the newspaper, the bank papers were returned at around 4.25 p.m. after Okupe made payment. It was processed by the court after everyone signed it, including the EFCC lawyer.
“God is not a man,” Okupe tweeted shortly after his release. The enemies made numerous attempts but were continually unsuccessful. God has the victory.
The Director-General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Okupe, was found guilty by a court on Monday, and the Labour Party leadership stated that it will review the ruling before taking a statement.
Yunusa Tanko, the campaign council’s spokesman, revealed in an interview with The PUNCH immediately after Okupe was found guilty, saying that his Party would review the ruling.
