The Court of Appeal, Abuja has refused the application for bail pending appeal filed by a retired Director of Finance and Administration with the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) under the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Garba Mohammed Dukku.
Garba Dukku was convicted and sentenced to 24-year imprisonment for diversion of public funds amounting to approximately N319 million.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) spokesperson, John Odey, in a press statement, Thursday in Abuja, said Dukku had approached the Court of Appeal seeking to be admitted to bail pending the determination of his appeal against the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which sentenced him to 24 years in prison for corruption and money laundering offences.
He said the Court of Appeal in its ruling held that the Appellant/Applicant failed to show any exceptional circumstance to warrant the exercise of the court’s discretion in granting bail pending appeal. The court consequently refused the application. However, he was granted an accelerated hearing of the substantive appeal in order to ensure the expeditious determination of the matter.
The Spokesperson said Dukku was convicted by the Federal High Court, Abuja, presided over by Justice James Omotosho, on six counts bordering on corruption and money laundering in charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/608/2022.
The ICPC had established during trial that between 2012 and 2013, Mr. Dukku fraudulently diverted a total sum of N318,250,000 belonging to the AMMC into his personal Fidelity Bank account in various tranches, including N56.25 million, N71 million, N53 million, N54 million, N46 million, and N36.3 million.
The Commission further proved that the diverted funds were subsequently transferred to Bureau de Change operators for unauthorised purposes.