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Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court, Lagos, has sentenced former acting Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Calistus Obi, to seven years in prison.
The court however gave him an option of N42million fine.
Justice Olatoregun had on May 23 found him guilty of money laundering and converting the agency’s funds to personal use.
The court refused to order the forfeiture of his seized assets.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had charged Obi to court over allegations of N136 million fraud.
He was charged to court alongside Dismass Alu Adoon, a former staff of NIMASA.
During the court proceedings, the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, urged the court to impose the maximum punishment of 14 years imprisonment on Obi.
This, he said, would serve as a deterrent to other civil servants.
President Muhammadu Buhari had appointed Obi as the acting Director General of NIMASA two months after he assumed office in 2015.
Patrick Akpobolokemi, Obi’s predecessor, was fired after the president ordered the dissolution of boards and the sack of all heads of federal government parastatals.
Akpobolokemi is also currently being prosecuted for alleged corruption while in office.