By Nkechi Eze
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has secured the conviction of one Lukumanu Sani Waziri, an accountant at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto, for corruption and abuse of office.
Waziri was found guilty of diverting public funds amounting to over Sixty-million naira through unauthorized access to the Government Integrated Financial Information System (GIFMIS).
Recall that the ICPC had in 2021, in a charge number: FHC/ICPC/122021 arraigned Waziri and two others before Honourable Justice M. Abdulgafar of the Federal High Court, Sokoto Division in a nine-count charge of fraud and corruption.
In the course of the trial, ICPC’s Prosecutor, Dr Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha, led evidence before the court on how Waziri, a designated user of GIFMIS in the Teaching Hospital altered financial records and facilitated the transfer of multimillions of government money into private accounts, including his own and that of one Monday Michael Adejo.
Waziri was also said to have, without authorization changed the bank account details meant for state taxes of Kogi, Edo, Bauchi and Zamfara States to that of Monday Adejo Michael where the taxes due to the aforementioned States were fraudulently diverted to.
One of the counts against him read: ‘That you LUKUMANU SANI WAZIRI (M) and Monday Michael Adejo (M) sometime in April, 2020 or thereabout, conspired amongst yourselves to take possession of the sums of N6,127,465.75, N8,552,824.60 and 5,939,666.49 totaling N20,619,956.8 (Twenty Million, Six Hundred and Nineteen Thousand, Nine Hundred and Fifty-Six Naira, Eight Kobo) from the Government Integrated Financial Information System into the First Bank Account of Monday Michael Adejo with account number: 30142906334 on the prompting of Lukumanu Sani WAZIRI, which reasonably ought to have known that such funds form part of the proceeds of an unlawful act, namely: corruption and fraud and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Sections 18 and 15 (1) ( d ) and punishable under Section 15 ( 3 ) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 (as amended)”
In his judgement on friday, Justice Abdulgafar found Mr. Waziri guilty of seven, out of the nine counts charge levelled against him.
The court thereafter sentenced the convict as follows: ”one year imprisonment or a fine of ₦200,000 each on Counts 1 and 2; one year imprisonment each on Counts 3, 4, and 5 without the option of a fine; and three years imprisonment or a fine of ₦500,000 each on Counts 8 and 9.
The sentences are to run concurrently.
