Court jails Delta Assembly official for two years for receiving N14.5m double pay

A High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta, has sentenced John Adjeke Akpoghene, an official of the State House of Assembly, to two years imprisonment over N14.5 million salary fraud.
Akpoghene was accused by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in a one-count charge of receiving double salaries from the Delta State House of Assembly and Ughelli South LGA of the state.
In his defence, Akpoghene told the court that he was unaware that it was a crime to have two government jobs and receive salaries from both at the same time.
Justice Onome Marshall-Umokoro, in his ruling, sentenced the accused to two years imprisonment with an option of a fine of N500,000.
Marshall-Umokoro further ruled that Akpoghene should make necessary monthly refunds to the House of Assembly Service Commission.
Azuka Ogugua, ICPC spokesperson, in a statement on Friday, said the convict received the sum of N14,525,550 as double salaries over four years from the state agencies.