Bobrisky, Naira Abuse: Appealing Conviction, Seeking Option Of Fine

 

 Idris Olanrewaju Okuneye, a.k.a. Bobrisky, is a cross-dresser who was found guilty and has requested that the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal overturn the six-month sentence that Federal High Court Judge Abimbola Awogboro imposed on him.

Bobrisky requested that the appellate court fine him N50,000 for each of the charges brought against him.

 
Judge Awogboro imprisoned Bobrisky for six months without offering him a choice after he entered a guilty plea to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's (EFCC) four counts of naira abuse.
The judge had ruled that the penalty ought to act as a disincentive to others who enjoy mistreating and disfiguring Naira.

 
However, not happy with the decision, the guilty claimed in his Notice of Appeal that the ADCJA's provisions allowed the trial court to impose a reduced sentence on the appellant, who had no prior criminal conviction history, but the appellant was entitled to a maximum term.

According to him, the trial court gave the appellant, who had no prior criminal convictions, the maximum term possible even though the ADCJA's provisions allowed for a lighter punishment.
Through his attorney, Bimbo Kasanu, Bobrisky claimed that the trial court's sentence against the appellant was punitive and went against the law's obligatory sentencing guidelines (ADCJA).

Additionally, the attorney argued that the trial court overlooked the appellant's favorable antecedent, who did not waste As part of the lower court's decision, Kasanu complained of "the sentence of the Lower Court that imposed the maximum penalty of six-months imprisonment without option of fine on the Appellant who is a first-time convict without a previous record of a criminal conviction." 

"The Learned trial Judge erred in law and facts by his imposition of the maximum sentence of 6 Months imprisonment terms against the Appellant without the option of fine," according to Kasanu. The appellant acknowledged that he had accepted the charge, despite the trial court's limited resources.

the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of 2015 (ADCJA), which mandated the trial court's required guidelines for sentencing following a first-time offender's conviction.

"The trial court chose to impose the maximum sentence on the appellant who had no prior conviction history, despite the ADCJA's provisions allowing for a lesser punishment.""The appellant has suffered a miscarriage of justice by the maximum sentence imposed by the learned trial court.

" The trial court's sentence against the appellant is punitive, in violation of the mandatory requirements of the law (ADCJA) on sentencing.The learned trial court presented arguments for the maximum penalty to be imposed on the appellant, which are basically outsiders' perceptions of Naira abuse are twisted and uninformed by what the trial court actually ought to have taken into account when deciding how severely to sentence the appellant.

"The Central Bank Act 2007 provisions that the appellant was charged with are intended to prevent Nigerians from tampering with Naira, not to reflect the opinions of foreign nationals regarding tampering with Naira.

"The Appellant did not squander the trial court's valuable judicial resources when he entered a guilty plea to the charge, so the trial court did not take this into account. During the course of the inquiry that resulted in the charge, the appellant accepted the respondent, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on its first invitation.

The attorney contended that the trial court's failure to apply its discretion in a judicious and judicial manner during the appellant's sentencing process resulted in a miscarriage of justice against the client. Accordingly, the attorney asked the court to vacate the maximum six-month prison sentence the client received and substitute a fine of N50,000 on each of the appellant's counts.