The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has dismissed the Dukku bail appeal filed by former Director of Finance and Administration of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Garba Mohammed Dukku, who is currently serving a 24-year prison sentence for the diversion of public funds amounting to N319 million. The appellate court ruled that the former official failed to establish sufficient grounds to justify his release while his appeal against conviction is pending.
Dukku, who served under the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), was convicted by the Federal High Court in Abuja on corruption and money laundering charges brought by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). Justice James Omotosho found him guilty on a six-count charge after the anti-corruption agency proved that between 2012 and 2013, he fraudulently diverted N318.25 million belonging to the AMMC into his personal Fidelity Bank account.
According to the prosecution, the money was transferred in multiple tranches, including N56.25 million, N71 million, N53 million, N54 million, N46 million and N36.3 million, before being channelled to bureau de change operators for unauthorised transactions.
During the trial, Dukku argued that the funds were handed over to his superiors. However, the trial court rejected the defence, holding that he failed to provide credible evidence to support the claim. In addition to the 24-year custodial sentence, the court gave the convict the option of paying fines equivalent to five times the amount involved in each count of the charge, bringing the total financial penalty to about N1.6 billion.
Seeking to regain his freedom while challenging the conviction, Dukku approached the Court of Appeal with an application for bail pending the determination of his substantive appeal.
In a unanimous decision delivered by a three-member panel of justices, the appellate court held that the applicant failed to demonstrate exceptional circumstances that would justify granting the request. The court concluded that no convincing material had been placed before it to warrant the exercise of its discretion in his favour and consequently dismissed the Dukku bail appeal for lacking merit.
Although the application for bail was refused, the Court of Appeal granted an accelerated hearing of Dukku’s substantive appeal. The decision means the appeal challenging his conviction and sentence will be heard on an expedited basis while he remains in prison custody.
