Yakubu V. Frn (2022)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report

TIJJANI ABUBAKAR, J.S.C.

Following an application dated the 28th day of March, 2012, the Respondent was granted leave by the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, to prefer a charge against the Appellant and 7 (seven) other Defendants. Consequently, the Appellant and the other Defendants were charged on a 16 Count Charge of criminal breach of trust, criminal misappropriation, and unlawful conversion of funds belonging to the Police Pensions Fund dated 27th March, 2012. However, in the course of proceedings at the trial Court, plea bargain was contemplated, and the Appellant and the prosecution agreed to perfect the bargain, and following the execution of a plea bargain agreement between the Appellant and the Respondent, the charge was amended with the leave of the trial Court on the 28th day of January, 2013, of the 20 Counts contained in the amended Charge before the trial Court, counts 18, 19 and 20 were preferred against the Appellant. The three Counts against the Appellant read as follows:

COUNT 18:

“That YOU ESAI DANGABAR, ATIKU ABUBAKAR KIGO, AHMED INUWA WADA, MRS. VERONICA ULONMA ONYEGBULA, SANI HABILA ZIRA, MRS. UZOMA CYRIL ATTANG, CHRISTIAN MADUBUKE and JOHN YUSUFU YAKUBU between January 2008 and June 2011 at Abuja in the Abuja Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory converted to your own use certain property, to wit: the sum of N20,154,728,660.18 (Twenty Billion, One hundred and Fifty-Four Million, Seven Hundred and Twenty Eight Thousand, Six Hundred and Sixty Naira, Eighteen Kobo) belonging to Police Pension office domiciled in its account with First Bank of Nigeria Plc and YOU hereby committed an offence punishable under Section 309 of the Penal Code Act, Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria 2007.

COUNT 19:

That you JOHN YAKUBU YUSUFU between 27th January, 2009 and 25th November, 2010 at Abuja in the Abuja Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory converted to your own use certain property, to wit: the sum of N1,364,285,419.95 (One Billion, Three Hundred and Sixty Four Million, Two Hundred and Eighty-Five Thousand, Four Hundred and Nineteen Naira and Ninety Five Kobo), belonging to Police Pension Office domiciled in its account with First Bank of Nigeria Plc and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 309 of the Penal Code Act, Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Nigeria 2007.

COUNT 20

That you JOHN YAKUBU YUSUFU between 25th November, 2010 and 20th April, 2011 at Abuja in the Abuja Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory converted to your own use certain property, to with the sum of N1,749,257,956.83 (One Billion, Seven Hundred and Forty-Nine Million, Two Hundred and Fifty-Seven Thousand, Nine Hundred and Fifty-Six Naira and Eighty-Three Kobo) belonging to the Police Pension Office domiciled in its account with First Bank of Nigeria Plc and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 309 of the Penal Code Act, Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria 2007.”

​When the three Counts were read to the Appellant, he pleaded guilty. The three (3) counts border on conversion of property, to wit: the sums of N20,154,728,660.18 (Twenty Billion, One Hundred and Fifty-Four Million, Seven Hundred and Twenty-Eight Thousand, Six Hundred and Sixty Naira, Eighteen Kobo); N1,364,285,419.95 (One Billion, Three Hundred and Sixty-Four Million, Two Hundred and Eighty-Five Thousand, Four Hundred and Nineteen Naira, Ninety-Five Kobo); and N1,749,257,956.83 (One Billion, Seven Hundred and Forty-Nine Million, Two Hundred and Fifty-Seven Thousand, Nine Hundred and Fifty-Six Naira, Eighty-Three Kobo), by his plea of guilty, the Appellant admitted committing the offences punishable under Section 309 of the Penal Code Act, Cap. 532, Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, 2007. The Appellant was convicted on the aforesaid 3 (three) counts and sentenced to 2 (two) years imprisonment on each count, with an option of fine in the sum of N250,000.00 (Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) on each count.

​The Respondent became nettled by the outcome of the plea bargain, particularly the sentence imposed on the Appellant by the trial Court, the Respondent therefore initiated an appeal to the Court of Appeal (the “lower Court”) vide a notice of appeal filed on the 29th day of April, 2013 containing five (5) grounds of appeal. At the lower Court, the Appellant as Respondent, in addition to his brief of argument filed a notice of preliminary objection challenging the competence of the appeal on the ground that the notice of appeal was not filed within the time prescribed by the Court of Appeal Act.

The Court of Appeal (Coram Aboki; Agim; and Mustapha, JJCA) unanimously dismissed the Appellant’s preliminary objection and allowed Respondent’s appeal, thereby substituting the sentence imposed on the Appellant by the trial Court. In its stead, the lower Court sentenced the Appellant to 2 (two) years imprisonment on each count, terms of imprisonment to run consecutively. The lower Court also imposed additional fines of N20,000,000,000.00 (Twenty Billion Naira), N1,400,000,000.00 (One Billion, Four Hundred Million Naira), and N1,500,000,000.00 (One Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira) in respect of counts 18, 19 and 20, respectively, upon which the Appellant was convicted and sentenced. This appeal is therefore against the Judgment of the Court of Appeal Abuja Division delivered on the 21st day of March, 2018.

​Aggrieved by the judgment of the lower Court delivered on the 21st day of March, 2018, the Appellant appealed to this Court via notice of appeal dated and filed on the 28th day of March, 2018, containing five (5) grounds of appeal.

Learned Counsel for the Appellant, Maiyaki Theodore Bala, Esq. filed the Appellant’s brief of argument on the 16th day of May, 2018, in the Appellant’s brief of argument, learned Counsel nominated and argued two (2) issues for determination, the issues are reproduced as follows:

1. “Whether the Court of Appeal was right in dismissing the Appellant’s Notice of Preliminary Objection on the grounds that Section 15(2)(b) of the Interpretation Act overrides the express provisions of Section 24(2) of the Court of Appeal Act
2. Whether the Court of Appeal was right in quashing the judgment of the trial Court and substituting same with more punitive and severe sentences in total disregard of the plea bargain reached between the Appellant and the Respondent whereby 32 properties and the sum of N325,187,867.18 (Three Hundred and Twenty-Five Million, One Hundred and Eighty-Seven Thousand, Eight Hundred and Sixty- Seven Naira, Eighteen Kobo) were forfeited to the Federal Government as refund of the N3,000,000,000.00 (Three Billion Naira) misappropriated by the Appellant?”

​On the part of the Respondent, Learned Counsel Oluwaleke Atolagbe, ACIArb (UK), filed the Respondent’s brief of argument on the 18th day of February, 2019 on behalf of the Respondent. The learned Counsel for the Respondent nominated the following corresponding 2 (two) issues for discourse: