Supreme Court Sentences Senator Bassey To  Seven Years Imprisonment

By Adesina Soyooye 

Senator Albert Bassey has been sentenced to a seven year imprisonment by the Supreme Court of Nigeria. 

The former Senator whose sentencing by the lower Courts was affirmed by the Supreme Court on Friday, February 27, 2026, will, also return to the Akwa Ibom State Government, the sum of N204 millions.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in a statement, said the sentencing was decided by a five-man panel of Justices and delivered by the Honourable Justice Stephen Jonah Adah.

The Supreme Court, in its review of the case, affirmed the  judgement of the Appeal Court, and restored the restitution of N204m imposed by the High Court but ignored by the Appeal Court.

Said the Supreme Court: “The order of this Court is that the conviction and sentencing imposed by the lower court on the 23 day of June 2023 on the appellant is hereby affirmed but the order of the lower Court avoiding the order of restitution given by the trial Court did not follow the law, so it is revised and the right order is to nullify same and thereby the restitution of the sum of N204 million made by the trial Court is restored.”

Trouble started for the former Senator when the EFCC, in a case led by its Counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, before the Honourable Justice Agatha Okeke of the Federal High Court, Uyo, prosecuted him. He was said to have received bribes of 12 cars which worth was put at N254 million while he was the Commissioner for Finance, Akwa Ibom State.

The Court found him guilty of all the seven-count charges preferred against him and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment for each charge on December 1, 2022. The years of imprisonment totalled 42 years but ran concurrently.

But, not satisfied, Bassey proceeded to the Court of Appeal where a three-man panel upheld his conviction but with an option of fine. It is that judgment that the Supreme Court looked at and not only upheld the seven-year jail term but restored the N204m restitution to the Akwa Ibom Government.

Bassey represented Akwa Ibom North East in the 8th Senate, and was the State Commissioner for Finance from 2007 to 2014.