Professor Magaji Garba, a former Vice Chancellor, VC, of the Federal University of Gusau, was found guilty on five counts involving money laundering and forgery by Justice Maryam Hassan Aliyu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Garki, Abuja, and given a 35-year prison sentence. The conviction was obtained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC.
On October 12, 2021, he was charged by the EFCC with extorting money from a contractor under the pretense of giving him a N3 billion contract to build the university’s perimeter wall fencing.
The Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act of 2006’s section 1 (1) (a) and section 1 (3) both prohibit the offense.
Count two of the charge reads: “That you, Professor Magaji Garba, whilst being the Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Gusau on or about the 15th of May, 2019 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja with intent to defraud obtained the sum of N100,000,000 (One Hundred Million Naira) from Alhaji Shehu Umar Sambo, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Ministaco Nigeria Limited, a contractor executing the construction of the Grand Convocation Square of the Federal University, Gusau under the false pretence of awarding a project for the perimeter wall fencing of the University valued at the total sum of N3 billion which representation/pretense you knew to be false”.
Count three reads: “That you, Professor Magji Garba, whilst being the Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Gusau on or about the 1st August, 2019 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja with intent to defraud obtained the sum of N150,000,000.00 (One Hundred and fifty Million Naira from Alhaji Shehu Umar Sambo, Managing Director/Chief Executive officer of Ministaco Nigeria Limited, a contract executing the construction of the Grand Convocation Square at the Federal University, Gusau under the false presence of awarding a project for the perimeter wall fencing of the University valued at the total sum of N3 billion, which representation/ pretense you knew to be false”.
He had pleaded “not guilty” to the charges, thereby setting the stage for his full trial.
The EFCC ended its investigation on December 14, 2021, after calling numerous witnesses and submitting a large number of documents that were accepted as evidence. The trial judge stated in his ruling that the prosecution’s case was proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and the court was satisfied with that finding.
On all five counts, he found the defendant guilty and handed down sentences of seven years in jail on counts 1-3 without the possibility of a fee and seven years on counts 4 and 5 with the possibility of a N10 million fine on each case.
