The Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt has upheld the conviction and prison sentence handed to George Turnah, a former aide to the former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dan Abia, over non-disclosure of assets.
Mr Turnah served as special assistant to Mr Abia, who headed the NDDC between December 2013 and December 2015 before his removal by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) disclosed the Court of Appeal judgement in a statement posted on its Facebook page.
According to the anti-graft agency, the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Thursday affirmed the earlier judgement of the Federal High Court, which convicted Mr Turnah on charges related to false asset declaration.
Justice Peter Obiorah, who delivered the lead judgement, dismissed the appeal filed by Mr Turnah and held that the prosecution established its case against him.
The judge also ruled that the defendant was properly served with the charge sheet and that the criminal charges did not amount to an abuse of court process despite a related civil suit instituted by him.
The appellate court further held that the prosecution proved that Mr Turnah failed to disclose his interest in Ashford Consult and Events Nigeria Limited in the asset declaration form he completed at the EFCC office while under investigation for alleged money laundering and obtaining by false pretence.
Mr Turnah, a political ally of the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, was arraigned by the EFCC in 2017 at the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt on a four-count charge of money laundering, obtaining by false pretence and abuse of office.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges before the trial judge, A.T. Mohammed.
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In one of the charges, the EFCC accused him of knowingly failing to make a full disclosure of his assets by omitting his position as a director and majority shareholder of Ashford Consult and Events Nigeria Limited in an asset declaration form submitted to the anti-graft agency on 15 March 2017.
The offence, according to the prosecution, contravened Section 27(1) and 27(3)(a) of the EFCC Establishment Act, 2004.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that on 20 May 2022, the Federal High Court found Mr Turnah guilty on two counts relating to non-disclosure and failure to fully disclose assets.
The court sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment on each count.
Dissatisfied with the judgement, Mr Turnah, through his lawyer, A.G.O. Agorondi, approached the Court of Appeal in September 2023 seeking to overturn the conviction and sentence.
However, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and affirmed the lower court’s decision, sustaining the prison sentence imposed on the former NDDC aide.