Judgment
TIJJANI ABUBAKAR, J.S.C. (Delivering the Leading Judgment) : Following an application dated the 28th day of March, 2012, the Respondent was granted leave by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, to prefer a charge against the Appellant and 7 (seven) other Defendants. Consequently, the Appellant and the other Defendants were charged on a 16 Count Charge of criminal breach of trust, criminal misappropriation, and unlawful conversion of funds belonging to the Police Pensions Fund dated 27th March, 2012.
However, in the course of proceedings at the trial Court, plea bargain was contemplated, and the Appellant and the prosecution agreed to perfect the bargain, and following the execution of a plea bargain agreement between the Appellant and the Respondent, the charge was amended with the leave of the trial Court on the 28th day of January, 2013, of the 20 Counts contained in the amended Charge before the trial Court, counts 18, 19 and 20 were preferred against the Appellant.
The three Counts against the Appellant read as follows: COUNT 18: “That YOU ESAI DANGABAR, ATIKU ABUBAKAR KIGO, AHMED INUWA WADA, MRS. VERONICA ULONMA ONYEGBULA, SANI HABILA ZIRA, MRS.
UZOMA CYRIL ATTANG, CHRISTIAN MADUBUKE and JOHN YUSUFU YAKUBU between January 2008 and June 2011 at Abuja in the Abuja Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory converted to your own use certain property, to wit: the sum of N20,154,728,660.18 (Twenty Billion, One hundred and Fifty-Four Million, Seven Hundred and Twenty Eight Thousand, Six Hundred and Sixty Naira, Eighteen Kobo) belonging to Police Pension office domiciled in its account with First Bank of Nigeria Plc and YOU hereby committed an offence punishable under Section 309 of the Penal Code Act, Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria 2007.
COUNT 19: That you JOHN YAKUBU YUSUFU between 27th January, 2009 and 25th November, 2010 at Abuja in the Abuja Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory converted to your own use certain property, to wit: the sum of N1,364,285,419.95 (One Billion, Three Hundred and Sixty Four Million, Two Hundred and Eighty-Five Thousand, Four Hundred and Nineteen Naira and Ninety Five Kobo), belonging to Police Pension Office domiciled in its account with First Bank of Nigeria Plc and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 309 of the Penal Code Act, Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Nigeria 2007.
