Justice N. I . Afolabi of a Federal High Court in Gombe State has sentenced Samuel Bulus Adamu, a former Chairman of Shongom Local Government Area of Gombe State to 31 years in prison.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Justice Afolabi, in the judgment passed on Thursday, found Adamu guilty of all the seven- count charges leveled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The former council boss was arraigned on March 9, 2015 on a seven- count charge bordering on fraud, cheating and money laundering to the tune of N97,640, 000.00.
When the charges were read to him, he pleaded “not guilty” to them, thus prompting the EFCC to prosecute him for more than five years.
During the trial, prosecution counsels, A. M. Labaran and A. Y Muntaka called four witnesses and tendered several exhibits in order to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
Justice Afolabi convicted and sentenced Adamu to five years imprisonment on counts 1, 2 and 4 without an option of fine.
On count 3, the court sentenced him to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine and on counts 5, 6 and 7, the court sentenced him to 3 years imprisonment each without an option of fine.
The sentence is to commence from July 10, 2020, and run concurrently.
Justice Afolabi also ordered the convict to pay the sum of N31,640,000 to the coffers of Shongom Local Govt through the registry of the court under the supervision of the EFCC.
Adamu’s journey to prison began when TICAN Engineering Enterprises petitioned the Gombe zonal office of the EFCC on May, 9, 2011 on allegations bordering on fraud, cheating and money laundering to the tune of N97, 640, 000 by way of inflation of contracts for rural electrification of Keffi; Kwara; Gangamari; Daja; Gurwa; Gundale; Bebbulo, Kuka, and Damjigiri areas of Shongom Local Govt., from N66, 000, 000 which was initially approved by the Tender board of Gombe state to N97.6million.
The EFCC investigated the case and established that Adamu committed the offence, hence his prosecution and conviction.