Oclabode George and his five co-convicts released

Former chairman of the board of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) deputy national chairman for the southwest, Oclabode George, and his five co-convicts were released on Saturday 26th February, from Lagos' KiriKiri maximum security prison where they were serving jail terms for fraud and abuse of office convictions.

George plus the former NPA managing director Aminu Dabo, plus Olusegun Abidoye; Abdullahi Tafida; Zanna Maidaribe and Sule Aliyu, have all reportedly served their two-year jail sentences and are consequently due for release.

In 2008, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned the six men on a whopping 163-count charge for offences related to the award of about N100 billion worth of contracts without adherence to the Public Procurement Act and due process; abuse of office and fraud. They were convicted of inflating contract prices in some instances and also splitting contract sums to evade the requirement for certification by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP). George and others were convicted and sentenced in 2009 by Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Lagos High Court.

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