The Director General of the Labour Party, LP, presidential
campaign council, Doyin Okupe has said he would not be imprisoned despite his
conviction.
Recall that an Abuja Federal High Court, on Monday,
convicted Okupe for breaching the money laundering act.
Okupe was found guilty of 26 out of the 59 counts charges
preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu ordered that the 26 counts, which attracted
a 2-year jail term each, would run concurrently.
The judge, however, gave an option of a N500,000 fine in
each of the counts, amounting to N13 million, which must be paid before 4:30 pm
on Monday.
Ojukwu ordered that Okupe be moved to Kuje Correctional
Centre to serve his prison term if he fails to meet the option of a fine within
the time frame.
However, Okupe’s legal team said its client would not be
imprisoned due to a fine option issued by the court.
A statement by the legal team said Okupe would emerge
victorious despite the court’s ruling.
The statement reads: “Contrary to false and ill-advised news
circulating around the social media, our client, Dr Doyin Okupe was not, and
would not be serving jail time of any sort.
“The honourable court, in its magnanimity, made an order for
the option of a prison sentence “OR” an option of payment of a fine in lieu of
prison sentence.
“Our client has preferred the option of payment of a fine in
lieu of prison sentence and, as it stands, remains a free man with liberty to
go about his personal and political engagements.
“For the records, our client’s reputation remains untainted,
with his only blemish being that he was a victim of circumstance of the
provisions of the Money Laundering Act which was construed aggressively against
him.
“Regardless of the circumstances, our client remains a
VICTOR.”
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