Civil Servant Bags 7 Years Jail Term In Niger For Receiving N11m Kickback From Contractor

A serving Deputy Director of the Niger State Ministry of Land Transportation, Umar Farouk, has been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment by the Niger State High Court in Minna.

Justice Abdullahi Mikail pronounced the sentence after convicting Farouk of unethical practices, relating to receiving kickback from a contractor to the tune of N11m.

The convict was arraigned before the court by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

The ICPC’s spokesman, Azuka Ogugua, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday, explained that Farouk was first arraigned in July, 2020 on a seven counts, bordering on gratification and conferment of corrupt advantage upon self.

The convict was said to have pleaded not guilty, thereby setting the tone for the long-drawn trial.

Ogugua said, “The ICPC prosecutor, Osuobeni Akpos, had told the court that Farouk, while serving as the Deputy Director of Land Transport for the Niger State Ministry of Land Transportation in 2016, collected the sum of N11m as kickback from a contractor for the award of contract for the registration of auto mechanic workshops, registration of auto spare parts dealers, registration of motorcycle/tricycle dealers and registration of colour code certification for commercial transport operators.

“The prosecution explained to the court how the convict had received money on different occasions, sometimes N100,000, N500,000, N400,000, and so on, to the tune of N11m from one Oyabambi Stephen on behalf of Boyabam Services Global Limited in exchange for a contract.

“The court was also informed that the said action of the convict was in contravention of sections 8 and 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and punishable under the same Act.

“The trial judge stated that the prosecution had proven their case beyond reasonable doubt. He thereby found the Deputy Director guilty on all the seven counts and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment each for counts one to six and five years’ imprisonment for count seven. All the sentences are to run concurrently.”