Alleged Fraud: Supreme Court Fixes Ex-Pension DG’s Appeal For April 22

The Supreme Court on Thursday in Abuja fixed April 22 for judgment in an appeal filed by a former Federal Director of Pension, John Yusuf, challenging his six years imprisonment by the Court of Appeal.

The former pension director is also contesting an order of the Court of Appeal, (Abuja Division), that he should refund to the Federal Government N22.9bn he admitted to have diverted for personal use.

Justice Mohammed Dattijo, who led a five-man panel of Justices of the Apex Court, fixed the date after taking arguments from counsel to the Federal Government, Oluwaleke Atolagbe and Theodore Maiyaki who stood for the jailed director.

Yusuf is praying the Supreme Court to set aside a judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which sentenced him to six years imprisonment and also ordered him to refund N22.9bn to the government.

He had, at a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, in a plea bargain arrangement, admitted diverting to personal use, N22.9 bn being pension fund entrusted to him by the Federal Government.

His admission of guilt at the High Court followed a three-count criminal charges bothering on breach of trust, diversion of N32.8 bn pension fund among others, brought against him by the government.

He was on January 28, 2013 jailed two years by Justice Abubakar Talba but granted an option of N750,000 fine in lieu of the imprisonment.

However upon an appeal by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Court of Appeal on March 21, 2018 reversed the High Court judgment.

The Court of Appeal therefore imposed a jail term of six years on him and also ordered him to return N22.9bn to the Federal Government.

However, in his appeal at the Supreme Court, Yusuf who is currently serving six years jail term at Kuje Correctional Centre argued that the Court of Appeal in Abuja was too harsh in its judgment against him.

He asked the Apex Court to void the judgment so as not to make him suffer double jeopardy.