Jailed former chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Chief Olabode George, has reportedly ‘rebranded’ his sojourn as a prisoner, having paid a million naira rent at the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons.
Sources in the prisons recalled that a bungalow chalet was given to George Monday night, the very day he was jailed 28 years alongside four others for embezzling NPA contract sums of over N84 billion.
The convicts’ sentences are, however, to run concurrently, indicating that George and his fellow convicts would only spend two years in prison.
It was gathered that upon arriving at the prison Monday, George, who was a national Deputy Chairman of ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was horrified by the state of cells at the Prisons.He reportedly asked for “a clean place”, prompting the warders to reply: ‘Oga, except you pay for a VIP chalet, which is N1 million.’
He promptly paid a million naira, for a VIP chalet in which he would live throughout his stay at Nigeria’s most popular prison yard.
It was, however, learnt that the prison chalet is very close to where Major el-Mustapha resides. El-Mustapha was the Chief Security Officer to the late Head of the military junta, General Sani Abacha, and has been facing murder and attempted murder charges for almost a decade.The duo of el-Mustapha and George reportedly met on Tuesday, hugged and exchanged pleasantries.
Meanwhile, George and his co-convicts have filed notice of appeal against their conviction.They have also initiated moves, through their counsel, to apply for bail.
Others jailed alongside George are Olugbenga Abidoye, Zaina Maideribe, Aminu Tafida and Sule Aliyu.They were found guilty on 47 out of the 68 charges levied against them.
Reports said that the appeal processes were instituted at the High Court registry to challenge their conviction



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