N319m Fraud: Appeal Court rejects jailed ex-FCTA Director’s plea for bail.

The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has dismissed an application for bail by Garba Mohammed Dukku, a former Director of Finance and Administration at the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). Dukku is currently serving a 24-year prison sentence for diverting N319 million in public funds during his tenure.

The conviction, handed down by the Federal High Court in Abuja, found Dukku guilty on six counts of corruption and money laundering. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) proved that between 2012 and 2013, Dukku fraudulently moved N318,250,000 belonging to the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC) into his personal Fidelity Bank account. These funds were later transferred to bureau de change operators for unauthorized purposes.

During his trial, Dukku claimed the funds were given to his superiors, but the court dismissed this defense due to a lack of credible evidence. The trial court had offered him an alternative of paying a fine equivalent to five times the involved amount, totaling approximately N1.6 billion, instead of the prison term.

While serving his sentence, Dukku appealed his conviction and sought release on bail pending the appeal's determination. However, the Court of Appeal, in a unanimous decision, found no exceptional circumstances to justify granting bail. Despite dismissing the bail request for lack of merit, the appellate court did grant an accelerated hearing for his substantive appeal.