…Labour Party under pressure for Okupe’s replacement as DG
…Conviction won’t demoralise me, I will get there — Obi
By Ridwan Adekunle
The Presidential Campaign of the Labour Party candidate, Mr. Peter Obi was on Monday hit with a blow, following a judgment of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, convicting the Director General (DG) of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the Labour Party (LP), Dr Doyin Okupe, of a corruption case filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Okupe, was convicted for breaching the money laundering act and paid N13million fine on the 26 court charges.
Okupe, a Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to former President Goodluck Jonathan’s was found guilty of receiving over N200 million cash from former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (Rtd) and sentenced him to two years imprisonment or an option of N500,000 on each of the 26 count charge for which he was found guilty.
Justice Ijeoma Ojuwku of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday, held that the action of Okupe, who is the first defendant in the suit filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), violated the Money Laundering Act, has up to 4:30pm on Monday to pay the fine option, totalling the sum of N13 million on all the charges he was found guilty or be sent to the Kuje Correctional Center.
Justice Ojukwu, in sentencing Okupe, considered the pleadings for leniency from the wife of the convict, Omolola Okupe and that of his son Adesunkanmi Okupe and the alocutus by his counsel.
According to Justice Ojukwu, the NSA is not a financial institution, adding that even if the president was said to have authorised the funds, he did not say that the money must be paid in cash in violation of money laundering.
Consequently, the court held that the first defendant, Dr Okupe was guilty in counts 34, 35, 36, and 59.
The Judge, however, found the defendants not guilty in counts 1 to 33 on the grounds that the prosecution failed to establish the charge of money laundering and criminal breach of trust and corruption against the NSA.
In counts 34 to 59 upon which Okupe was convicted, he was accused of receiving various sums ranging from N10 million on different occasions from 2012 to 2015 when he was SSA to President Goodluck Jonathan.
The said sum, according to him, was expended on running the office, payment of staff, and image laundering of the former president and his administration.
But the court held that receiving such amounts in cash violated the Money Laundering Act.
Following the optional nature of the.judgment, Okupe raced on Monday to fulfill the fine option before the deadline (4:30pm) on Monday, elapsed.
Reactions later from the Media Officer of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Diran Onifade, confirmed that Okupe has paid the N13m fine before time.
Meanwhile, Okupe, in a tweet after his conviction on Monday, blamed his “enemies” for his legal travails.
Meanwhile, there were speculations that the Labour Party was under heat of considering a replacement for Okupe.
Meanwhile Obi, in reaction said the conviction of his Campaign Organisation’s DG, Okupe, over money laundering would not demoralise him in the 2023 Presidency race.
Obi during an interaction with journalists in Uyo at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Council Secretariat on Monday, said he was undaunted by the conviction and would continue with his campaign, stating that he believes in the rule of law.
“I am hearing about it (the conviction) just like you. I am still studying what is coming out of the Court and everything. I believe in the rule of law. It is not going to demoralise me.
“Today, when I arrived Akwa Ibom somebody asked me why I haven’t been using my aircraft because it has been grounded and all that, and I said to him that nothing demoralises me.
“In my life, I have never stayed where they dropped me, otherwise, I would have been where they dropped me before. This election, if they like, let them do anything about people who are around me. I will get there,” Obi said.
On the impression that he does not have political structure to secure victory for the presidential election, he said he was determined to destroy the existing political structure in the country which, according to him, has encouraged corruption and widespread poverty among Nigerians.
“The structure they have today is the structure we want to destroy. It is the structure of criminality. It is structure that produced 133 million people living in poverty,
“It is the structure that produced 20 million out of school children. It is the structure that has made Nigeria surpass India in infant mortality. It is the structure that will destroy Nigeria and we want to destroy that structure,” he said.
The LP presidential candidate added that his priority would be how to secure a United Nigeria and pull people out of poverty.
“My problem is how to create a future and make Nigeria a productive and not a consuming nation,” he said.