As regards the Offence of Criminal Misappropriation, the Court finds as follows: COUNT 3-Guilty as Charged COUNT 9-Guilty as Charged COUNT 11-Guilty as Charged COUNT 12- Not Guilty as Charged COUNT 14-Not Guilty as Charged COUNT 16- Not Guilty as Charged COUNT 18- Not Guilty as Charged PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS: - COUNT 20- Not Guilty as Charged COUNT 22- Guilty as Charged NONE ALLOCUTUS: Learned Silk to the Defendant, Paul Erokoro SAN submitted that between 1973 and about Five Years ago, the only Conviction on Grounds of Corruption was when a few Soldiers were charged to Court, otherwise, all the Cases of Bribery and Corruption, were Cases that occurred in the 1960’s and Early 50’s with very few Convictions, and hardly any Prosecutions under the Military Rule. It is from this point of view that he pleads with the Court on the Offence by Chief Chibi Joshua Dariye, that theses Offences were committed around 2001, andwhen the 1999 Constitution (As Amended) just commenced. There was no Education on Financial Regulations, and the Convict was a Pioneer in Governance, and a lot of Mistakes were made. The Court has noted from the Proceedings before the Federal High Court in 2005 concerning AllStates Trust Bank & Ors, who were found guilty, that the Bank misled the Convict. Though the Convict is a Chartered Accountant, who never worked in the Bank, it was the Bank that said they had Private Banking and waived the Rules. If the Convict had a fraudulent intent, he would have Changed his Signature and he would not have used his Regular Signature to sign for Ebenezer Retnan Ventures. When President Olusegun Obasanjo gave his Inaugural Address, he stated that we are running a Government where one Arm of Government is forced to give Bribe to another Arm of Government before it can collect Funds. These are the Truths that we live with daily in the Country. Learned Silk stated that he did not appreciate the Strategy of the Defence in the matter, and he probably would not have employed such route, but it is the Truth that when a Cheque is given, the State is told to play ball, because it is being favoured among the other States. Even though the Convict was a Governor, he was also a Victim. The disbursements paid to the People’s Democratic Party was not the Convicts decision, why would he? The Court has seen that Investigations are still ongoing. 204