On this day in 2009, a Lagos High Court delivered its judgment against Chief Bode George, a prominent PDP chieftain and former chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), along with five other former board members: Aminu Dabo, Olusegun Abioye, Abdullahi Aminu Fafida, Zana Maidaribe and Sule Aliyu. Justice Joseph Olubunmi Oyewole convicted and sentenced them to two years in prison for contract splitting, which means breaking one large contract into smaller units to bypass approval rules.

The case began when the EFCC arraigned George on August 8, 2008, on a 163-count charge of abuse of office and awarding about N100 billion in contracts without due process. The charges were later reduced to 68, and the EFCC put the alleged contract inflation at N84 billion. They covered his time as NPA board chairman between 2000 and 2003.

After the verdict, the court refused the convicts bail in November 2009, and the Court of Appeal in Lagos later upheld the conviction and dismissed their appeal. George later blamed political enemies for his downfall, and the case stirred heavy political controversy. Reports from the time gave different figures for the sentence and the amount involved.