Supreme Court of Nigeria Upholds Seven-Year Jail Term for Senator Albert Bassey

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has upheld the conviction and seven-year prison sentence imposed on Senator Albert Bassey in a N240 million fraud case, ending his appeal.

In a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday by Justice Stephen Jonah Adah, a five-member panel affirmed earlier decisions of the trial court and the Court of Appeal, which found Bassey guilty of corruption-related offences. The court also reinstated an order directing him to refund N204 million to Akwa Ibom State.

The justices held that although the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction, it did not properly address the restitution order made by the trial court. The Supreme Court set aside that aspect of the appellate judgment and restored the refund directive.

Bassey served in the Senate from June 2015 to January 2023, representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District. He was first elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. Before his time in the National Assembly, he was Commissioner for Finance in Akwa Ibom State between 2007 and 2014.

The case originated from charges filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Prosecutors accused Bassey of receiving 12 vehicles valued at N254 million as bribes while serving as finance commissioner. He was arraigned before Justice Agatha Okeke of the Federal High Court on a seven-count charge of corruption and bribery.

On December 1, 2022, the trial court convicted him on all counts and imposed seven years’ imprisonment on each, to run concurrently.

Bassey challenged the ruling at the Court of Appeal, where a three-member panel led by Justice Rapheal Chikwe Agbo upheld the conviction but introduced an option of fine. That decision was subsequently contested at the Supreme Court.

In its final ruling, the apex court dismissed Bassey’s appeal, affirmed the seven-year sentence and restored the order requiring him to refund N204 million to the state government. The judgment brings the legal proceedings to a close.