A former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration Safety Agency, Raymond Temisan Omatseye, has been sentenced by a Federal High Court in Lagos to five years in prison for corruption.

Omatseye had been charged on a 27 count charge by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The charges bordered on contract splitting, bid rigging and approving contract above his approval limit to the tune of over N1.5 billion, which the anti-graft agency said contravened Section 58(4) (d) of the Public Procurement Act, 2007.

He also faced money laundering charges.

At the last hearing of the case on Monday, March 14, counsel to the accused, E.D. Onyeke, while making his final address urged the court to dismiss the case against his client because the prosecution had not proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The prosecution counsel, Godwin Obla, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, however, prayed the court to convict Omatseye, especially given the fact that 25 of the 27 charges preferred against him bordered on contract award above his limit, including awarding a contract to a company with the highest bid, which is against procurement regulations.