The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Upstream and governorship candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in Akwa Ibom State Senator Bassey Akpan has been sentenced to 42 years in a correctional facility by a Federal High Court, Uyo for fraud..
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had, in 2019, arraigned Akpan 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 Diezani Alison Madueke, former minister of petroleum.
Omokore reportedly had dealings with the state when he offered Bassey the vehicle.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Agatha Okeke, the presiding judge, found the senator guilty of the offences.
Consequently, he was sentenced to Ikot Ekpene prison to serve his jail term.
Akpan a serving senator representing Akwa Ibom north-east district, was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He, however, defected to the YPP in July, where he secured the party’s ticket for the 2023 governorship election.