A Federal High Court sitting in Jos, the Plateau State capital, has sentenced a former Minister of Water Resources, Sarah Ochekpe to three months imprisonment in a case of money laundering.
The court also sentenced a former Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Raymond Dabo, and campaign coordinator of Goodluck Jonathan campaign organisation, Evangelist Leo-Sunday Jitong to three months imprisonment.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Musa Kurna on Tuesday. Ochekpe was an evangelist and ex-PDP deputy chairman.
The three had been standing trial for the past four years on charges bordering on conspiracy and money laundering. However, the sentence has an option of a fine of N1 million.
In 2018, the courts ordered the former Minister and two others to submit their recent passports and international passports as part of their bail conditions in a case of money laundering and conspiracy amounting to the sum of N450 million.
In a suit FHC/J/141C/2017, Ochekpe and former Acting Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau state, Raymond Dabo and Jitong were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before the Jos Federal High Court on a two-count charge of money laundering and conspiracy amounting to the sum of N450 million.
