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ICPC secures conviction of two public officials for fraud

Arraigns polytechnic lecturer for allegedly misappropriating N4.1m

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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has secured the conviction of two public officials, Professor Kayode Carroll Oni and Mr. John Olajide Abolarin for fraud and misappropriation of public funds.

Professor Oni and Mr. Abolarin committed the offence while they served as the Chief Executive Officer and Controller of Finance respectively of the Nigeria Centre for Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM), Ilorin, Kwara State.

The convicts had earlier been arraigned before Honourable Justice M. Abdulgafar of Kwara State High Court, sitting in Ilorin for offences bordering on conspiracy and virement of funds.

ICPC had in a Charge No. KWS/ICPC/1/07, informed the Court of how the two public officers had conspired among themselves and transferred piecemeal, the sum of N54,850,000.00 allocated for personnel cost to the overhead account of NCAM from the Institute’s budgetary allocations for the year 2003 and 2004.

The Court was also told that the duo while acting as public officers at NCAM conspired with each other to spend the sum of N1,176,820.81 (One Million, One Hundred and Seventy-Six Thousand, Eight Hundred and Twenty Naira, Eighty-One Kobo) allocated for personnel services on overhead expenditure services.

Their actions contravened Section 26(1)(c), and is punishable under Section 22(5) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences, Act 2000.

When the charge was filed in 2007, the defendants objected to the validity of the charge, but this was dismissed by the trial judge.

However, they appealed against the ruling of the trial court and stayed proceedings in the matter for several years until the Supreme Court ordered them to go and face their trial in the year 2020.

The convicts were therefore re-arraigned in October 2021, and trial commenced immediately and within the time, the prosecution was able to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

Having found them guilty on 10 counts out of the 12 leveled against them, Justice Abdulgafar sentenced them to six months imprisonment on each count, with an option of fine of N50,000 as well on each count. The sentences are to run concurrently.

ICPC arraigns Polytechnic Lecturer for N4.1 million fraud

In another development, ICPC arraigned one Mr. Sahabi Dahiru Doka, before Justice Kabiru Dabo of Kaduna State High Court, Zaria, Kaduna State, for allegedly misappropriating the sum of N4,103,214.90 (Four Million, One Hundred and Three Thousand, Two Hundred and Fourteen Naira, Ninety Kobo).

Doka allegedly received the sum as salaries from Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic Zaria as a Lecturer, while being on secondment as Secretary to Kudan Local Government Council of Kaduna State.

He was charged on two counts for offences punishable under Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and Section 293 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law 2017; and Punishable under Section 294 of the same law.

When the charges were read to the defendant, he pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

The ICPC Prosecutor, Mathew Mamman, thereafter, applied for a date for hearing so as to present witnesses and also applied for the defendant to be remanded in prison custody pending hearing and determination of the matter.

The defendant’s lawyer applied for bail pending trial which was granted on the condition that a reliable surety who is resident in Kaduna with a landed property with a C of O worth N5 million or have the sum of N5 million in cash or in a bank account be provided.

The bail bond on the Defendant and surety is N500,000 each.

The matter was adjourned till 2nd February 2023 for a hearing. Read more.

 

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