The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced a retired Director of Finance and Administration at the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), under the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Garuba Mohammed Duku, to 24 years in prison for corruption and money laundering involving ₦318 million.
Delivering judgment in suit number FHC/ABJ/CR/608/2022, Justice James Omotosho found Duku guilty on all six counts brought against him by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The court ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a doubt through credible documents and witness testimonies.
Duku was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently. He was, however, given an option to pay a fine equivalent to five times the amount stated in each count, a total of about ₦1.6 billion.
According to an ICPC statement signed by its Director of Public Enlightenment and Education, Demola Bakare, investigations revealed that between 2012 and 2013, Duku diverted ₦318,250,000 belonging to the AMMC into his personal Fidelity Bank account. The funds were reportedly received in tranches of ₦56.25 million, ₦71 million, ₦53 million, ₦54 million, ₦46 million, and ₦36.3 million, and subsequently transferred to Bureau de Change operators for unauthorized purposes.
During the trial, Duku claimed the funds were handed to his superiors, but the court dismissed the defence for lack of evidence. Justice Omotosho held that the ICPC’s evidence was “credible, consistent, and sufficient to establish the offences charged,” describing the transactions as a “clear abuse of public trust.”
Reacting to the verdict, Bakare hailed the ruling as a significant milestone in the ICPC’s ongoing efforts to combat corruption in public service.
“This judgment underscores the Commission’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that public officers who betray public trust are held accountable,” he said. “No one entrusted with public funds is above the law, and this conviction sends a strong message that corruption will not go unpunished.”
The ICPC, one of Nigeria’s foremost anti-corruption agencies established in 2000, continues to prosecute cases of corruption and financial misconduct under the ICPC Act and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.
The conviction adds to the Commission’s growing list of successful prosecutions, including the May 2024 conviction of a Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps commandant, Christopher Oluchukwu, for employment fraud, and the 2019 sentencing of former ICPC board nominee Dr. Saad Alanamu and businessman Salman Sulaiman for bribery.
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