John Abebe, the younger brother to former president Olusegun Obasanjo’s late wife, Stella has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
He was sent to jail for alleged forgery by a special offences court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, with an option of N50m fine to be paid within 30days.
Abebe was arraigned on four counts before the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja.
The EFCC, in the charges, claimed that Abebe “knowingly forged” a November 30, 1995 letter written by BP Exploration Nigeria Limited to Inducon (Nigeria) Ltd.
The anti-graft agency claimed that the businessman “illegally inserted” into page 2 of the said letter “the following statement:
“Also note that the ‘Buy-Out Option’ only applies to the pre-production stage of the NPIA. The $4m buy-out is thus irrelevant from production of oil in any of our fields.”
According to the EFCC, Mr. Abebe also attempted to “pervert the course of justice” by tendering the allegedly forged November 30, 1995 letter “as a fabricated evidence” in court, in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/224/2010 between Dr. John Abebe, Inducon Nigeria Limited and Statoil Nigeria Limited.
He was arraigned on four counts.
Justice Mojisola Dada handed the judgement after it was established that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The prosecution led by Mr Rotimi Oyedepo SAN had arraigned the defendant on the 26th of July 2018 on three counts charge bothering on money laundering and forgery.
