JUDGE SENTENCES AKWA IBOM GOVERNOR CONTENDER TO 42 YEARS IN PRISON

Bassey Albert

Bassey Albert, the Young Progressives Party's (YPP) candidate for governor in Akwa Ibom State, received a 42-year prison term for corruption.

On Thursday, Mr. Albert, who had been charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, was found guilty and given a sentence by a Federal High Court in Uyo.

To fulfill his prison sentence, he has been transported to Ikot Ekpene Prisons, Akwa Ibom State.

While working as the commissioner for finance in Akwa Ibom State from 2010 to 2014, Mr. Albert, a senator currently representing the Akwa Ibom North East District, was accused of accepting bribes in the form of 12 cars valued at N254 million from oil trader Olajidee Omokore.

Prior to his months-long defection to the YPP, where he won the party's nomination for the 2023 governorship election, the guilty senator belonged to the Peoples Democratic Party, the state's ruling party.

He was a significant opponent of Umo Eno, the PDP candidate, in the governor's race for Akwa Ibom State the following year.