CASE NUMBER 10924:

SUPREME COURT AFFIRMS THE 12 YEAR JAIL TERM REWARDED TO KWARA POLY GORVERNING CHAIR

Alleged Perpetrators(s)

Dr. Saadu Alanamu

Location (Town / State)

Kwara state, Kwara

Date of Event

18 Jun 2021

Date of republication

18 June every year

Case category (Choose all that apply)

Case Summary

The Supreme Court has affirmed the 12-year jail term handed down to the former Chairman, Governing Council of the Kwara State Polytechnic, Dr. Saadu Alanamu, by the High Court over a N5million bribe.

Full story

The Supreme Court has upheld the 12 year jail term rewarded to the Former Chairman of Kwara State Polytechnic Governing Council Dr. Saadu Alanamu by the Kwara State High Court.

Recall that in 2017, Dr. Alanamu was nominated into the Board of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), before his rejection due to his involvement in corruption allegations which subsequently led to his conviction. The alleged corruption centered on the N5 million bribe from a contractor, Salman Sulaiman, the Chief Executive Director of Namylas Nig. Ltd as a rebound for the award of contract in the Polytechnic. Dr Alanamu was investigated by the ICPC, tried on eight counts of bribery and found guilty by Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar, who sentenced him to 12 years imprisonment.

Dr. Alanamu immediately re-appeal to the Court of Appeal on the basis of being dissatisfied with the ruling of Justice Mahmud, urging it to overturn the judgment of the trial court. His appeal was dismissed on lack of merit. The appellate court therefore upheld the judgment of the lower court after hearing the arguments from both the prosecution and defense counsel. Confidence that he (Dr. Alanamu) has a case and very much dissatisfied with the ruling of the Court of Appeal, the Former Governing Council Chairman, approached the Supreme Court on four grounds of appeals, to upturn the judgments against him by the trial and appellate court.

His counsel, Professor Amuda Kanike, SAN, had argued at the Supreme Court that the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, under which the convict was tried had been purportedly repealed by ICPC Act, 2003. He further raised the issue of whether or not the appellant could be validly tried and convicted for different offences under different counts in the same trial based on the same set of facts.
After hearing his case, the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision canceled out all the grounds of the appeals as incompetent, misconceived and lacking in merit and accordingly affirmed the conviction and sentencing of Alanamu to 12 years imprisonment based on the same fact handed down to him by the appellate and trial courts.

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