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Nicolas Sarkozy Given Jail Sentence For Illegal Campaign Financing

Nicolas Sarkozy given jail sentence for illegal campaign financing

The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been sentenced to a second jail term after being found guilty of illegal campaign financing for the vast, showman-style political rallies of his failed 2012 re-election campaign.

The 66-year-old, who remains an influential figure on the French right, received a one-year sentence that the judge said could be served under house arrest by wearing an electronic ankle bracelet.

Sarkozy is now in the extraordinary and unprecedented situation of having two custodial sentences. At the same time, he has maintained his high public profile, publishing a book on culture this month and regularly being interviewed on TV for his views on April’s presidential race, with candidates on the right vying for his endorsement.

In March, Sarkozy became France’s first postwar president to be handed a custodial sentence when he was given a three-year jail term, two years of which were suspended, for corruption and influence peddling over attempts to secure favours from a judge.

Sarkozy has appealed that verdict and under French guidelines had not yet begun serving the sentence. If the verdict and sentence are upheld on appeal, there is a possibility of wearing an electronic ankle bracelet during his punishment.

Sarkozy will also appeal against Thursday’s verdict on illegal campaign financing, his lawyer said. He had denied wrongdoing in the two cases.

The latest trial was labelled the “Bygmalion” case for the name of the events company that organised Sarkozy’s elaborate and artfully filmed stadium gigs in front of thousands of flag-waving fans when he was fighting for re-election and lost to the Socialist party’s François Hollande.

In court, the state prosecutor highlighted Sarkozy’s “couldn’t care less” attitude in demanding one rally a day in the form of vast “American-style shows” and allowing costs to rise substantially above the legal limit for a presidential election campaign.

The prosecution said accountants had warned Sarkozy he was about to pass the official €22.5m spending cap but that he insisted on holding more events to fend off Hollande, who was gaining ground as a “Mr Normal” seeking to crack down on the world of finance.

In the end, Sarkozy’s campaign spending came to at least €42.8m, nearly double the legal limit.

Delivering the verdict on Thursday, the judge said Sarkozy went ahead with organising the rallies after being warned in writing of the risk of going over legal spending limits. She added: “It wasn’t his first campaign, he was an experienced candidate.”

Sarkozy, who was not in court for the verdict and attended only one day of the trial, argued he had been too busy running the country to pay attention to an “accounting detail”. He said allegations he was reckless with public money were “a fairytale”.

Seen as one of the best orators on the French right, he had delivered thunderous speeches from slick, purpose-built sets in huge venues with big audiences, accompanied by specially composed music as renowned directors filmed the extravaganzas for TV and beamed images on to giant screens around the room.

A series of other party members or events organisers were found guilty of further charges of setting up or benefiting from a fake billing scheme to cover millions of euros in excess spending.

Although Sarkozy is the first former modern French leader to receive a prison sentence, he is not the first to be found guilty in court. In 2011, Jacques Chirac, then aged 79, received a two-year suspended sentence for corruption committed while mayor of Paris.

Sarkozy is facing other ongoing legal investigations. He has been placed under formal investigation in what is potentially France’s most explosive political financing scandal in decades: allegations that he secretly received €50m from the former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi for his successful 2007 election campaign. Sarkozy has repeatedly denied the allegations, dismissing them as “grotesque”.

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Police foil N14m ransom payment, rescue kidnap victim, arrest suspects

A kidnap victim, Semiu Ogunniyi, who was abducted from a hotel in Ikare-Akoko, Akoko North-East Local Government Area of Ondo State, has been rescued by police operatives and local hunters.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Wilfred Afolabi, who disclosed this, revealed that one of the suspected kidnappers involved in the abduction of Ogunniyi, Muhammed Babuga, was arrested in the course of the rescue operation.

According to Afolabi, the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of N14 million for the release of the victim, after which the movement of the suspects was trailed through actionable intelligence.

The police boss disclosed that during the interception, the suspects engaged the operatives in a fierce gun duel, with several suspects sustaining gunshot injuries during the exchange of gunfire.

While speaking with newsmen at the headquarters of the state police command, Afolabi added that two suspected kidnappers, Ibrahim Umar, 25, and Paul Osanyinduro, 38, were arrested in Owo, headquarters of Owo Local Council Area of the state. Abubakar Bamoh, 30, a logistics provider for the kidnappers terrorising various parts of the South-West, was also arrested.

He said, “Command also arrested 3 suspected kidnappers who have confessed to their involvement in various kidnapping cases across the state. This operation marks yet another success in the Command’s ongoing offensive against kidnapping and violent crime in the state.

“Acting on credible intelligence regarding the activities of one Abubakar Bamoh, male, aged 30 years, an indigene of Bunza Local Government Area of Kebbi State, operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the Command swung into action and successfully apprehended the suspect at one of the Fulani camps in Igbara-Oke, Ondo State.”
(Daily post)

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SERAP demands explanation over missing N500bn oil revenue from NNPCL

Allow 7m Nigerians to complete voter registration or face legal action, SERAP tells INEC

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has asked the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr Bayo Ojulari, to immediately account for and explain the whereabouts of the N500 billion oil revenue the company allegedly failed to remit to the Federation Account between October and December 2024.

In a letter dated May 17, 2025, and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP cited recent revelations by the World Bank which showed that out of N1.1 trillion earned from crude oil sales and other income in 2024, only N600 billion was remitted by the NNPCL, leaving a staggering N500 billion unaccounted for.

The organisation is demanding full disclosure and recovery of the missing funds, and has threatened legal action should the company fail to act within seven days.

“SERAP is writing to request you to use your good offices and leadership position to promptly account for and explain the whereabouts of the missing N500 billion, which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited failed to remit to the Federation Account,” the letter stated.JAMB’s

SERAP also urged Ojulari to identify and surcharge those responsible for the missing funds and hand them over to anti-graft agencies for investigation and prosecution.

“SERAP urges you to promptly identify those suspected to be responsible for the alleged missing oil money, surcharge them for the full amount involved, and hand them over to the ICPC and the EFCC,” the group wrote.

Citing the World Bank report, the group noted that revenue from oil sales and other sources was expected to be fully paid into the Federation Account and shared by all tiers of government, but the NNPCL failed to comply.

“Nigerians have the right to know why the NNPCL is remitting only 50 per cent of the gains generated from the removal of petrol subsidies to the Federation Account,” SERAP said.

“The failure by the NNPCL to remit the money is a grave violation of the public trust and the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, national anti-corruption laws, and international obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption.”

SERAP warned that the alleged disappearance of such a large sum has serious implications for economic development, poverty alleviation, and the provision of basic public services at a time of national hardship.

“Despite the country’s enormous oil wealth, ordinary Nigerians have derived very little benefit from oil money primarily because of widespread grand corruption, and the entrenched culture of impunity of perpetrators,” the group added.

It stressed that the failure of the NNPCL to uphold transparency and accountability standards has worsened the country’s fiscal crisis.

“The missing oil revenue reflects a failure of NNPCL accountability more generally and is directly linked to the institution’s continuing failure to uphold the principles of transparency,” SERAP noted.

Citing paragraph 3112(ii) of the Financial Regulations 2009, the group said any public officer who fails to account for government revenue “shall be surcharged for the full amount involved and handed over to either the EFCC or the ICPC.”

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Security Operatives Nab ‘Wanted’ Kidnapper In Abuja Hajj Camp

Security operatives have reportedly arrested a wanted kidnapper at the hajj camp in Abuja.

A security source at the camp confirmed the arrest to our correspondent, on Sunday.

He said the suspect was nabbed during screening of pilgrims who were preparing to be airlifted to Saudi Arabia. He disclosed that the suspect identified as Yahaya Zango resided at Paikon -Kore in Gwagwalada area council of the FCT.

The source said security agencies had declared him wanted, following his alleged involvement in some kidnappings.

He said the suspect presented his passport alongside other Muslim contingent from Abuja who were on their way to observe this year’s hajj. “It was this afternoon during the screening at the hajj camp in airport when the DSS operatives apprehended him and whisked him away,” he said

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