The Supreme Court, yesterday in Abuja, affirmed the six-year imprisonment of a former Federal Director of Pensions (FDP), John Yakubu Yusuf, for misappropriating N22.9 billion from the police pension fund.

The apex court also ordered him to refund the sum to Federal Government coffers.

Justice Tijjani Abubakar, in his judgment, in an appeal filed by Yusuf, upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal, which is 2018, sentenced him to six years’ jail in addition to ordering him to refund the money.

The Supreme Court held that Yusuf, and others, engaging in fraudulent practices, must be told in clear language through rulings that “it is no longer business as usual.”

The judge said the appeal seeking to set aside the jail term was frivolous, vexatious and devoid of merit.

He submitted that victims of the convicted official deserve restitution, which could only come through justice.

The apex court, in the unanimous judgment, held that the verdict of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, which is 2016, sentenced Yusuf to two years’ imprisonment with an option of N750,000, was a slap on the wrist.

Justice Abubakar said the plea bargain at the High Court and the ruling of the judge were not only bizarre and embarrassing but also ridiculous and unacceptable.

The presiding judge, consequently, adopted the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which imposed the six-year jail and ordered a refund of the huge fraud sum.

He ruled: “I have carefully perused the case of the appellant (Yusuf). I found it to be frivolous, vexatious and devoid of merit.

“I make an order dismissing the appeal and affirming the findings and conclusion of the court below.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Yusuf before the FCT High Court in 2016, where he admitted committing the fraud and subsequently entered into a plea bargain with the anti-graft agency.

Justice Abubakar Talba of the FCT High Court had, upon the plea bargain, sentenced the former director to two years imprisonment with an option of an N750,000 fine, which he promptly paid and escaped imprisonment.

Irked by the sentence considered to be too ridiculous, the prosecutor challenged the decision at the Court of Appeal in Abuja which returned a favourable ruling in 2018 that quashed the plea, opening the journey to the eventual legal fight at the Supreme Court.