A prominent don at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), Professor Bukar Bababe, will be spending the next five years in prison after a Maiduguri High Court judge found him guilty of multiple-count charge bordering on high level fraud.

Professor Bababe, a former Executive Director of the Lake Chad Research Institute, is to serve his jail time without an option of fine as the crime for which he was jailed contravenes Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Act 2000.

It could be recalled that the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) had in 2011 arraigned Professor Bababe and the Acting Head of Accounts of the Institute, Janada Mshelia, on an eight-count charge before Justice Charity Mamza of High Court 8, Maiduguri.

The duo were accused of “conspiring to make false statement to the Central Bank of Nigeria Maiduguri branch between December, 2008 and January, 2009 claiming that a certain company, Hammadeen Nigeria Limited, was entitled to the payment of the sum of twenty-five million naira (N25,000,000) as payment for a capital project, which the said company did not execute.”

They were also accused of similar fraud between December, 2008 and January, 2009 during they conspired to make false statement to the Central Bank of Nigeria Maiduguri branch that another company, Rofako International Limited, is entitled to the payment of the sum N25,500,000 as payment for a capital project, which the said company did not undertake.

Other charges are that “the former Executive Director of the Lake Chad Research Institute Maiduguri used his position to confer an unfair advantage upon his son, Adam Bukar Bababe, by approving the renewal of a retainership contract for the maintenance and servicing of the Institute’s computers to Cyber Technologies Nigeria Limited, a company mainly owned by his son.”

Bababe further sinned against the anti-graft law by approving the award of a contract for his son for the purpose of upgrading of computers and printers sets to Cyber Technologies Nigeria Limited sometimes in August, 2010 as Chairman of Procurement Planning Committee.

Another charge against the don was that sometimes in July, 2007, Professor Bababe used his position to pay himself the sum of five hundred and twenty-five thousand naira as first twenty-eight days allowance in lieu of accommodation while residing at an official residence in the University of Maiduguri.

The presiding Judge of Maiduguri High Court Number 8, Justice Charity Mamza, said in her ruling that while Professor Bababe and his co-culprit, Janada, are to pay the sum of one hundred thousand naira each as cumulative fine for the four-count charges. Bababe is to serve a five-year jail term to run concurrently for the fifth, sixth and seventh charges levelled against him.

Though counsel to the accused persons had pleaded leniency as they were first time offenders, the court turned a deaf ears.

Counsel to the accused persons said they would appeal against the judgement.

•Text courtesy of LEADERSHIP.

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