Jonathan’s ‘godson’, Turnah, bags 6 years jail term for N2.9bn fraud

The Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Monday, sentenced George Turnah, a former Special Adviser to erstwhile Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Dan Abia, to six years imprisonment after he was found guilty of laundering N2.9 billion.

Turnah who is widely regarded as a political godson of former President, Goodluck Jonathan, was sentenced by the presiding judge, Justice A. T. Mohammed, alongside two accomplices, Ebis Orubebe and Uzorgor Chidiebere, for obtaining money under false pretence, money laundering, conversion of funds and forgery.

They were dragged to the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in an originally arraignment in May 2017 and were re-arraigned on January 25, 2021.

According to the anti-corruption agency, the offenses ran contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.

Read also: Turnah, ex NDDC MD’s adviser, others re-arraigned for fraud, money laundering

The EFCC in a statement confirming the conviction, said Turnah and his co-accused were arraigned on 23 counts bordering on obtaining by false pretence, money laundering and abuse of office to the tune of N2,894,500,000.

“They were jailed on Thursday, September 10, 2023, having been found guilty of charges preferred against them by the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,” EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, said in the statement.

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