Former acting Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Calistus Obi, has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the federal high court in Lagos, who handed down the judgement on Monday, however, gave him the option of paying a N42 million fine.
Recall that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had dragged Obi to court on a seven count charge bordering on fraud amounting to about N136 million.
He was charged alongside Alu Dismass a former aide of another NIMASA former Director-General, Patrick Akpobolokemi.
Also charged were two companies, Grand Pact Ltd. and Global Seal Investment Ltd. as third and fourth defendants.
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On May 23, the court convicted the defendants after finding them guilty of most of the allegations against them.
At one of the court sittings, Rotimi Oyedepo, the prosecuting counsel, had urged the court to impose the maximum punishment of 14 years imprisonment on Obi.
However, delivering the sentence, Olatoregun acknowledged that the prisons were congested and not conducive, necessitating consideration of a non-custodian sentence, but held that punishments were necessary to serve as deterrent to others and therefore, sentenced the convicts to seven years imprisonment with an option of N42 million fine.
She ordered the companies to pay a fine of 10 million each on count five but made no forfeiture orders against them.
