You Want Plea Bargain? | EFCC Tells Amosu, Others to Plead Guilty & Forfeit 33 Houses, Billions

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has told the immediate past Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu (retd.); a former Chief of Accounts and Budgeting in Nigerian Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Jacob Adigun; and a former Director of Finance and Budget, Air Commodore Olugbenga Gbadebo, to forfeit the 33 properties they allegedly bought with stolen funds.

This, it was learnt, was part of the conditions for the plea bargain given to the three accused persons.

An insider told Punch that apart from forfeiting the properties, Amosu, Adigun and Gbadebo would be asked to plead guilty, after which the EFCC would appeal to the court to temper justice with mercy.

The accused persons alongside eight companies are being accused of stealing N22.8bn from the coffers of the NAF between 2014 and 2015.

A source said, “We will not want to rock the boat because negotiations are still ongoing. However, since Amosu, Adigun and Gbadebo have opted for plea bargain, we expect them to permanently forfeit all the properties linked to them.

“Afterwards, they will enter a guilty plea and receive a reduced sentence. This was what we did for the Managing Director of the defunct Oceanic Bank, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru, who was jailed after she pleaded guilty and forfeited 103 choice houses and shares in 77 companies in Nigeria in 2010.

“It is the standard practice worldwide and it will save everybody’s time.”

Documents made available to Punch showed that Amosun, Adigun and Gbadebo had returned over N2.8bn to the Federal Government, while properties such as plazas, schools, mansions, farms, a hospital and a quarry had been seized from them.

While almost N2.6bn cash has been recovered from Amosu, Gbadebo has returned N190m. Adigun’s wife was said to have returned some money as well.

The document further stated that properties recovered from Adigun were worth N9.6bn. Just imagine!