A Federal High Court in Akwa Ibom has sentenced Senator Bassey Albert (YPP, Akwa Ibom North-East) to 42 years in prison for fraud.
Albert is the governorship candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) for the 2023 election. The politician was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but he defected to the YPP in July.
In 2019, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Albert on a six-count charge of allegedly taking possession of six vehicles worth N204 million when he was finance commissioner in the state.
He was said to have collected one of the vehicles from Jide Omokore, an associate of a former minister of petroleum Diezani Alison Madueke.
Omokore reportedly had dealings with the state when he offered Bassey the vehicle.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Agatha Okeke found the senator guilty of the offences and sentenced him to Ikot Ekpene prison.
