A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced an ex-Group Executive, Exploration and Production of the NNPC Limited, Abiye Membere, and a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, (NPDC), Victor Briggs to two years imprisonment each upon their conversation for official corruption.
In a judgment on Tuesday, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba convicted Membere and Briggs for accepting gifts of Mercedes Benz and Range Rover cars from a businessman, Jide Omokore, whose companies – Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited – were given contracts to lift and sell crude oil under the administration of Goodluck Jonathan.
The judge held that the prosecution’s evidence proved that Briggs and Membere accepted gifts as public officers, from parties in contractual agreement with their employer (the Federal Government).
Justice Dimgba, who relied on the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), convicted Membere and Briggs under Section 98 of the Criminal Code Act for official corruption.
He held that their acceptance of the gifts of Mercedes Benz and Range Rover cars from Omokore could not be justified under any law.
Justice Dimgba ordered Membere and Briggs to be remanded in the custody of the prosecuting agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and to be brought to court the following day for sentencing.
On Wednesday, after listening to a plea of mercy from their lawyers and the witnesses they called to testify about character, Justice Dimgba sentenced Membere and Briggs to two years imprisonment each, but with an option of fine of N2 million each.
