ENGR. OGBONNA IRENEAUS V. FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

ONYEKACHI AJA OTISI, J.C.A. (Delivering the Leading Judgment): The Appellants appeal is against the judgment of the Benue State High Court of Justice sitting at Makurdi Coram A.O. Onum, J. delivered in Suit No. MHC/85C/2013 on October 7, 2016 in which the Appellant was convicted and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment without an option of a fine for the offence of conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence and with the intent to defraud contrary to Section 8 (a) and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.

The facts leading to this appeal are as follows: The Appellant was at all material times, the Project Manager of I.I. Nwankwor and Partners/Jeezec Ltd (J/V), which is a limited liability company. Another company known as Hakkam-B Universal Ventures Ltd (also spelt as Hakkim-B) was awarded a contract by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, Garki, Abuja for the construction of a motorized/handpump borehole t…