Two members of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, have been jailed 21 years each by a Yola High Court for receiving a bribe of N362 million from Diezani Alison-Madueke, former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Madueke, during the 2015 general elections.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had filed a three count charge against the men. They were sentenced to seven years each on each of the three charges but the judge said following pleas from their counsels, the sentence would run concurrently.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that Justice Nathan Musa who sentenced the two – Ibrahim Mohammed and Sahabo Iya-Hamman – said that going by testimonies from 15 witnesses who appeared before the court and the suspects’ responses, it was clear that they were guilty of the offence.
The judge noted that although the two men received N362 million, they only shared five per cent of the money to other staff of INEC .
Also, the judge urged the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammad Adamu, to liaise with the International Criminal Police Organisation, INTERPOL, to arrest Alison-Madueke, the third respondent in the case so she can face her charges.