Doyin Okupe, the Director-General of the Labour Party presidential campaign council has been sentenced to two and a half years in jail for breaching the Money Laundering Act.
According to the Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Okupe was charged to court for receiving N702 million in illegal payment from public funds meant to procure arms to fight insurgency in 2019. He was convicted of the offense by the Federal High Court on Monday, December 19, 2022.
One of the charges read: “That you, Dr. Doyin Okupe, being the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan from July 2012 to May 2015 and being the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, and a signatory to the bank account of Abrahams Telecoms Limited, on or about the 3rd October 2014 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this honorable court, directly took possession or control of the sum of N35million, transferred to the account of Abrahams Telecoms Ltd from the account of the Office of the National Security Adviser with the Central Bank of Nigeria, purporting to be for special services when you reasonably ought to have known that the said fund formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful activity.”
Justice Ojukwu, in a judgment, held that Okupe, also the former Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on media to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan was found guilty of contravening Sections 16(1) & (2) of the Money Laundering Act, for accepting cash payments without going through a financial institution, above the threshold allowed under the Act.
