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Five workers of the SnnoHydro Power Project at the Zungeru Hydro Power Dam in Niger State are to share a total of six years and 10 months in a correctional facility after they were convicted and sentenced by Minna Chief Magistrate Court No. 1.
Also, the court convicted two people for conspiring among themselves to vandalise an armoured cable from the powerhouse of the Zungeru Hydro Power Dam.
The presiding Chief Magistrate, Hajiya Ummulkhatum Mohammed, while passing her sentence, said the sentences of three others were without the option of a fine, while one of them was with a N50,000 fine option.
The convicts were Haliru Garba, a security man attached to the Zungeru Hydro Power Dam; Olore Joshua, a welder with SnnoHydro Power Project, Musa Magaji, and Yusuf Anas
Hajiya Ummulkhatum Mohammed convicted them after they all pleaded guilty to the three-count charges brought against them by the men of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligent Department (SCIID) of the Niger State Police Command.
The four convicts were arraigned in court on a charge sheet marked MN/12/90/2023, which bothered on criminal conspiracy, theft, and mischief in relation to electricity.
According to Police Prosecutor Ahmed Saidu ASP, the three-count charges contravened Sections 97, 287, and 334 of the penal code law.
When the charges were read to them by the Presiding Chief Magistrate Hajiya Ummulkhatum Mohammed, they all pleaded guilty, and the police prosecutor prayed the court to invoke Section 190 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of Niger State (ACJA) and convict them summarily.
She then convicted and sentenced them to a total of six years and ten months to be shared among themselves, and she ordered them to pay the sums of N8,816,000 as compensation to the nominal complainant.
Niger State House of Assembly has passed into law the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation Bill of about N230.3b.
The law was enacted after the bill scaled the third reading following an emergency sitting at the State House of Assembly Complex, Minna, on Wednesday.
Speaker of the state house of assembly, Rt. Hon. Abdulmalik Sarkin Daji, said that the budget has a capital expenditure of N211.2b and a recurrent expenditure of N19.08b.
He said that the N230,300,000,000.00 is expected to be financed from the following inflows: UBA facility of N187,000,000,000.00, Federal Government (FG) infrastructure loan of N42,000,000,000.00, and NCNI (Project Financing Firm) bond of N1,300,000,000.00.
According to him, the budget will affect personnel, overhead, and viable capital projects that are in line with the government's priorities.
He added that July 1, 2023, is the effective start of the supplementary budget implementation.
The bill was presented to the floor of the House by the Chairman of the House Standing Committee on Planning and Appropriation, the member representing Rafi Constituency, Hon. Zubairu Ismail.
The speaker appreciated members for responding to the emergency sitting to attend to the urgent need to pass the bill into law as it was in the best interest of the state, even as he commended the standing committee for doing thorough work before the bill presentation at the plenary.
