TheCable

A court of appeal in Ilorin, Kwara, has affirmed the judgment of a high court in the state which sentenced Saadu Alanamu to 12 years imprisonment for bribery.

Alanamu, who was nominated into the board of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in 2017, was dropped following reports of some allegations levelled against him.

He was said to have collected N5 million from Salman Sulaiman, his friend, as kickback for the award of a contract.

Although Sulaiman’s company, Namylas Nigeria Ltd, was not qualified for the contract, Alanamu, a former chairman of the governing council of Kwara State Polytechnic, reportedly ensured that it was awarded a contract worth N182.3 million for the construction and furnishing of an auditorium in the institution.

Mahmud Abdulgafar, judge of a federal high court in Kwara state had convicted Alanamu and Sulaiman in May 2019.j

Dissatisfied with the judgment of the high court, Alanamu approached the appellate court, seeking to upturn the decision of the trial court.

According to Rasheedat Okoduwa, ICPC spokesperson, the former ICPC board nominee’s appeal was quashed for “lacking merit”.

“Having listened to the arguments from both the prosecution and the defence counsel, the court of appeal upheld the judgment of the lower court and dismissed Alanamu’s appeal for lack of merit.”