Teaching hospital accountant jailed for N60m fraud

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has secured the conviction of an accountant at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) in Sokoto, Lukumanu Sani Waziri, for corruption and abuse of office.

Waziri was found guilty of diverting public funds amounting to over N60 million through unauthorised access to the Government Integrated Financial Information System (GIFMIS).

The ICPC had in 2021, in a charge number: FHC/ICPC/122021, arraigned Waziri and two others before Justice M. Abdulgafar of the Federal High Court in Sokoto in a nine-count charge of fraud and corruption.

In the course of the trial, the ICPC’s prosecutor, Dr Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha, led evidence before the court on how Waziri, a designated user of GIFMIS in the Teaching Hospital, altered financial records and facilitated the transfer of multimillions of government money into private accounts, including his own and that of one Monday Michael Adejo.

Waziri was also said to have, without authorisation, changed the bank account details meant for state taxes of Kogi, Edo, Bauchi, and Zamfara States to that of Adejo where the taxes due to the aforementioned states were fraudulently diverted to.

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One of the counts against him read: ‘That you Lukumanu Sani Waziri (m) and Monday Michael Adejo (m) sometime in April, 2020 or thereabout, conspired amongst yourselves to take possession of the sums of N6,127,465.75, N8,552,824.60 and 5,939,666.49 totaling N20,619,956.8 from the Government Integrated Financial Information System into the First Bank Account of Monday Michael Adejo with account number: 30142906334 on the prompting of Lukumanu Sani Waziri, which reasonably ought to have known that such funds form part of the proceeds of an unlawful act, namely: corruption and fraud and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Sections 18 and 15 (1) ( d ) and punishable under Section 15 ( 3 ) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 (as amended)”

Delivering judgement on friday, January 17, 2025, Justice Abdulgafar found Waziri guilty of seven out of the nine counts charge levelled against him.

The judge thereafter sentenced the teaching hospital accountant to one year imprisonment with a fine option of N200,000 each on counts ine and two; one year imprisonment each on counts three, four, and five without the option of a fine; and three years imprisonment with a fine option of N500,000 each on counts eight and nine.

Justice Abdulgafar added that the sentences will run concurrently.

The Star