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Tag: ICPC

  • ICPC’s battle against fake doctors

    ICPC’s battle against fake doctors

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) is set to battle Martins Ugwu, who confessed to working with the Federal Ministry of Health for close to a decade with stolen certificates. The commission is also prosecuting another fake doctor, writes OLUKOREDE YISHAU

    Mr Davidson George joined the Federal Ministry of Health  in 2006 as a Medical Officer 11 on grade level 13. He was due to be promoted as Assistant Director in Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, a parastatal of the ministry when it turned out the man everybody had addressed as George in the last few years is actually Martins Ugwu.

    He was later remanded in prison after he was arraigned at the Federal High Court in Abuja. He was accused of stealing certificates of Exemption issued by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and General Certificate of Education (Ordinary Level), belonging to George.

    A five-count charge was brought against him. He was charged, among others in the five-count charge, of claiming ownership of the certificates and tendering them before the Federal Civil Service Commission in Ebonyi State and was offered a temporary letter of appointment, dated August 30, 2006.

    Count one of the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/296/2015 reads: “That you Martins Ugwu Okpe, male, aged 44 years, of the Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on or about March 13, 2006, at an unspecified hour in Karu Abuja of the Abuja Division, committed stealing; and did steal certificates of Bachelor of Medicine and National Youth Service Corps Exemption dated February 8, 2005, with serial number 000027400, property of Mr. Daniel Davidson George, being the certificate awarded to him by the Senate of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Kaduna State, dated August 29, 2002 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 383 and punishable under Section 390 of the Criminal Code Law.”

    Ugwu pleaded not guilty. Justice Gabriel Kolawole granted the accused bail in terms and conditions agreed upon by the prosecution and defence lawyers, Malik Taiwo and O. O. Otemu.

    Taiwo filed a counter-affidavit to Ugwu’s bail application but withdrew it later. Justice Kolawole admitted the accused to bail in the sum of N1 million with two sureties in the same amount. He later met the condition and returned home.

    The case is still on but the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) is determined to retrieve the over N17m he earned as a worker in the ministry.

     

    The beginning of the end

    Trouble began for Okpe when three of his colleagues – Dr. Adebayo Williams, Chidozie Godwin and Abdulazeez Umar, in a petition titled: “Unbecoming Behaviour of Dr. George Davidson Daniel” to the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission on May 13, last year asked for the investigation of his professional claims. They complained that “Dr. George, who claims to be a trained medical doctor in such a way that is unbecoming of his profession, has been involved in blackmailing, character assassination and mudslinging”.  The petitioners said Ugwu was using the certificate of a medic with a Mission in Jos,  Dr. Davidson Daniel.

    The Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) forwarded the petition to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), the body in charge of keeping the records of all medical practitioners in the country. The council discovered that it has a doctor named George Davidson Daniel in its archive, but the picture sent to it from the Ministry is different from the one sent in its archive.

    On June 4, last year, the Registrar of MDCN, Dr. A. Ibrahim, in a letter to the Chairman of FCSC, Deacon Joan Ayo, confirmed that Ugwu was impersonating Daniel.

    The council wrote: “Records available to the council revealed that this Dr. Davidson Daniel George is an impostor as he is impersonating another Dr. Davidson Daniel who is the genuine doctor and currently undertaking his residency training in Jos, Plateau State. Council summoned and interacted with the genuine doctor who gave some vital information on the impostor. Council has reported the matter to the law enforcement agency as a case of impersonation, with the genuine doctor deposing to a statement with regards to what happened between him and the fake doctor whose real name is Mr. Martins Ugwu. As it is, Mr. Martins Ugwu is an imposter. You may therefore wish to take further actions to deal with this matter in accordance with the provisions of the law.”

    On June 5, last year, the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), in a letter to the Chairman of FCSC, confirmed that the real George Davidson Daniel graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery in May 2002. The latter was signed by the Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Prof. A. G. Bakari.

    After its investigations, FCSC wrote  the ministry asking that the suspect should be handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution. He was placed on suspension pending his dismissal from the Service.

    Ugwu initially dismissed the allegation against him claiming he was being victimised because he was exposing the rot in the ministry. At another point, he said he joined the ministry with a friend’s credentials so as to have enough facts to expose corrupt people in the ministry.

    When the deputy spokesperson of the police, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Abayomi Shogunle paraded him at the Force Headquarters in Abuja on July 7, last year, Ugwu , who confessed to the crime, said he was 44 and father of five.

    He said: “I never opted for clinical services to avoid damage that may occur. I went into administration and research. It is in the health services, research and statistics that all the fraud in the health sector is found.

    “I have great remorse but it’s my desire to save my country that pushed me into this. I have great passion for Nigeria. I participated in the Ebola mission and much more and have not even been paid.

    “Severally there were biometrics verification but I survived them. I was the NMA chairman since 2008. Federal Ministry of health, I don’t think it has the mechanisms for that. The ministry is porous.”

     

    Enter the ICPC

    The ICPC has dragged Ugwu to a Federal Capital Territory, FCT High Court on eight count charges of stealing and impersonation. In the charges signed by Osuobeni Ekpo Akponimisingha for the Attorney- General of the Federation, ICPC accused Ugwu of presenting stolen certificates of his friend to the FCSC on August 30, 2006 to gain employment with the Federal Government.  The ICPC accused Ugwu of earning salaries of over N17 million from 21 September, 2006 to 31 May, 2015 as an employee of the ministry.

    The offences, the commission said, are punishable under section 25 (1) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

    Ugwu  is also to answer for deceiving the Chairman of FCSC by claiming in a  form that that his next of kin is ‘Ugwu Martins’ – thus running foul of section 25 (1) (a) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

    The ICPC is also charging Ugwu for falsely presenting himself as Dr. George Daniel Davidson between 2006 to 2015 to earn promotions and  other benefits.

    Five witnesses have been lined up against him. They include two ICPC investigators, Dr. George Daniel Davidson, FCSC Chairman, MDCN Registrar and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health.

    And George Dawari

    The commission is also prosecuting Mr George Dawari who it said not only posed as a medical doctor but was also involved in visa scams.

    The media consultant to the ICPC, Folu Olamiti, noted that during interrogation, it was discovered that the suspect was neither a medical doctor nor did he work in the National Hospital Abuja as claimed.

    Dawari was arrested on June 5, 2015 on the strength of a petition filed before ICPC alleging that he demanded N450,000 from a couple with a promise to procure 5-year visas to the United States for them and members of their  family.

    Olamiti said: “?After obtaining a warrant, a search on the residence of Dawari who had earlier offered to administer drugs on one of the  petitioners, a female, under the pretense of being a medical doctor, ICPC operatives discovered some medical equipment including a stethoscope and medical coverall with his name engraved on it in his possession.

    “Also discovered in the suspect’s house were  six green Nigerian  passports, four  of which had been stamped with the United States visas . The passports were subsequently sent to the American Embassy for authentication. The  U.S. Embassy declared the visas fake and process for procurement fraudulent.”

    He is being tried at the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Apo, Abuja for violating section 16 of the ICPC Act 2000 and section 321 of the Penal Code.

  • ICPC to go after 23,846 phantom workers

    ICPC to go after 23,846 phantom workers

    Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Chairman Mr. Ekpo Nta said yesterday that his agency will go after the 23,846 ghost workers, whose name have been removed from the Federal Government payroll.

    The Federal Ministry of Finance claimed that the figure was discovered after a biometric exercise following the completion of the Banks Verification Number (BVN).

    He said the ICPC has the photographs and biometric information of those who have been drawing over N2.293 billion from the Federal Government payroll on monthly basis.

    “Thanks to the BVN, we now know those who claim to be ghost workers and have been drawing huge amounts of money from government coffers on monthly basis.

    “I was not worried about them because I know one day they would start coming from their graves. Now, we have their photographs and biometric information. So, we will soon begin to arrest them,” Nta said.

    The ICPC Chairman, who made the remarks at the closing ceremony of the Sixth Workshop on Transparency and Accountability in the Legislature for members of the 8th State Houses of Assembly in Abuja, did not give details of how the commission would effect the arrest of the ghost workers.

    He said in as much as the commission is focusing on preventive mechanism to curb corruption in Nigeria, the commission was worried about what had become the fate of the cases of frauds in the National Identity Card Scheme.

    Nta said besides the National Identity Card issue, there were over 400 cases in various courts across the country, some of which had gone up the Supreme Court, yet without any landmark judgment.

  • FG probes EFCC, ICPC, Pensions over N1.3tr revenue

    FG probes EFCC, ICPC, Pensions over N1.3tr revenue

    The federal government has resolved to trace the whereabouts of the over N1.3trillion said to have been recovered from treasury looters by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Also to be investigated is the whereabouts of the N80billion and assets seized from corrupt public officers by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences and Commission (ICPC) and Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT).

    It has consequently raised three committees to find the money.

    The committees were constituted by the Attorney- General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), The Nation gathered yesterday.

    Specifically, the panels will find out what became of the   assets and cash recovered from the late Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, one time Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun, and pension thieves.

    Well placed sources said the panels are expected to reconcile the records of the EFCC, ICPC and the Pension Task Force in arriving at their conclusions.

    According to one of the sources, the presidency opted for the committees to enable it have a “true picture of the recovery records of the anti-graft agencies.”

    He said the government was concerned that “politics is creeping into the whereabouts of the assets and cash got from looters.”

    “All the committees are multi-agencies, including the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Nigeria and anybody managing remittances from these anti-graft agencies.

    “The committees will also consider court judgments, assets seized abroad and cash and assets under Temporary Assets Forfeiture Clause.

    “The committees will interact with present and past heads of anti-graft agencies and Pension Task Force. The government is not after maligning anybody or group but it is out to streamline records and present the real situation to Nigerians.

    “These are more or less purely fact-finding committees to resolve all lingering issues on the status of the recovery by these agencies.”

    Responding to a question, the top source said: “For instance, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said it has so far recovered over N80bn looted funds.

    “The funds include N23b funds stashed in 40 banks across the country by looters. ICPC has also received over 4,497 petitions with 899 concluded, while 470 are still pending in court.

    “These committees will locate all these funds, how much has been utilised and for what purposes. This will require going through remittances into the Federation Account.”

    The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (OAGF) confirmed the setting up of the committees last night.

    The International Police Organisation (INTERPOL) recently issued a Red Alert on the former Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina, giving the relevant security agencies to arrest Maina in any part of the world.

    The Head of Media and Publicity of EFCC, Mr.Wilson Uwujaren, said Maina was wanted for his alleged role in the fraudulent biometric contracts through which he and former Head of Service, Steve Oronsaye and two others allegedly mismanaged over N2billion of pension funds.

    Maina was on July 21, 2015 charged alongside Oronsaye, Osarenkhoe Afe and Fredrick Hamilton Global Services Limited before a Federal High Court on a 24-count charge bordering on procurement fraud and obtaining by false pretence.

    While Oronsaye and two others were in court and pleaded not guilty to the charge, Maina is nowhere to be found.

    However, on July 21 when the court heard the bail applications of the accused persons, Maina through his counsel, Esther Uzoma told the court that he was not at large, claiming that the EFCC had never invited him.

    The setting up of the committees by the federal government is coming on the heels of the Senate’s declaration of  the immediate past Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde wanted over  the whereabouts  of the  N1 trillion which the agency recovered from treasury looters

    At its plenary session on Thursday, the Senate directed its Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions to issue a warrant of arrest on Lamorde to compel him to explain the whereabouts of the money in EFCC’s custody.

    One Dr. George Uboh had petitioned the Senate to probe the matter.

    Uboh, Chief Executive Officer of Panic Alert Security Systems (PASS), had alleged that EFCC under Lamorde short-changed the federal government in the remittance of funds and properties recovered from the late Alamieyeseigha and a former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun.

    The anti-graft agency, according to him “has descended into the abyss of corruption and financial crimes.”

    He added: “EFCC operates accounts in banks to warehouse recovered funds, which do not reflect in EFCC’s audited accounts. EFCC doctors and manipulates bank accounts to conceal diversion of funds.

    “EFCC releases recovered funds to unidentified persons and EFCC officials. EFCC moves funds from its recovery accounts to EFCC operations accounts from where it diverts same.

    “Over 95% of EFCC’s recoveries in foreign currencies, other than those from multinational companies, have been diverted.

    “EFCC trades with recovered funds through bank deposits and placements.

    “EFCC colludes with real estate companies in order to grossly undervalue seized assets before there are sold to their cronies.

    “EFCC has not accounted for offshore recoveries.

    “Over half of the assets seized from suspects are not reflected in EFCC exhibit records.”

    Uboh claimed that the amounts of money recovered by the EFCC from Alamieyeseigha and Tafa Balogun were at different times falsified by officials of the agency with a view to perpetrating fraud.

    Lamorde, a senior police officer, is yet to be arrested.

    He is currently attending the Senior Executive Course 38 at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies at Kuru, near Jos.

    When reporters approached him at the institution on Friday to respond to the Senate’s decision to have him arrested, the former EFCC boss said he would have to get a clearance from his bosses at the Police Headquarters to say anything on the issue.

    However, his lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo, had earlier asked the Police authorities disregard the Senate threat to arrest Lamorde.

    He branded the Senate action as “legislative rascality”, and said the police should “resist the invitation to drag themselves into this illegal scheme.”

    Keyamo said he has already filed a suit at the Federal High Court seeking an interpretation of the powers of the Senate with respect to investigations.

    He said the Red Chamber refused to defend itself in court  following which the Committee set up to probe Lamorde was restrained from proceeding with its assignment pending the determination of the substantive suit.

    He said: “whilst there is no restriction on the powers of a court of law to issue a Warrant of Arrest against anybody who fails to honour its summons, the Senate’s own rules forbid it to do anything in respect of matters that are pending in a court of law.

    “The conducts of the Senate and the committee amount to legislative rascality as they seek to usurp the powers of the judiciary and to undermine its authority. We most respectfully urge the Nigeria Police Force to await the outcome of the matter pending in court before deciding one way or the other about the enforcement of the said Warrant of Arrest, if eventually issued.”

     

  • Two remanded in prison over alleged theft

    Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, on Wednesday ordered two accused persons – Akinyemi Badejogbin and Olanrewaju Bakare – charged before the court for alleged diversion of N56 million by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related offences Commission (ICPC), to be remanded in prison.

    Justice Lawal-Akapo ‎ said the suspects will remain in prison until March 21 when the court will hear application for their bail variation.

    Badejogbin and Bakare were granted bail in the sum of N5 million with two sureties each last year.

    The duo were arraigned on a 36- count charge bordering on conspiracy, unlawful conversion of funds and theft of N56 million belonging to National Anti-corruption Volunteer Corps (NAVC).

    At the resumption of trial on Wednesday, counsel to the first defendant, Abimbola Akinlagun, informed the court of her client’s application for variation of the bail condition.

     

  • ‘Strengthen ICPC to tackle corruption in civil service’ 

    ‘Strengthen ICPC to tackle corruption in civil service’ 

    Niger-Delta based Non-Governmental Organisation, Centre for Peace and Environmental Justice (CEPEJ), has condemned the discovery of projects allegedly sneaked into the Federal Government’s 2016 Appropriation Bill by civil servants.

    The Centre has advised the government to strength its anti-graft agencies especially Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to focus on the civil service with a view to bringing those who run foul to book.

    It described as absurd the revelation that projects were smuggled into the fiscal plan, noting that the amount allegedly involved in the said scam is merely scratching the surface of the illicit activities of some corrupt civil servants.

    A statement by the National Coordinator of CEPEJ, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, decried “systemic corruption in the civil service” and reiterated that ample attention must be paid on the civil service if the war on corruption is to make any meaningful headway.

    It said accusations against Pension Fund chief Abdulraseed Maina were still fresh in mind.

    ‘’During his campaigns, the president promised to stamp out corruption. We know that he may not end corruption completely, but we are expecting a drastic drop in corruption in this country and successive government can follow in his steps until the menace is completely wiped out’’, the statement said.

    The Centre described corruption as a cankerworm capable of destroying the fabric of the country if not uprooted. It attributed the underdevelopment of the country to the ‘’endemic and systemic’’ sleaze.

    The Centre urged Nigerians to back the President as he needs the collective will of the people to succeed.

  • ‘Merger of EFCC, ICPC, others not foreseeable’

    ‘Merger of EFCC, ICPC, others not foreseeable’

    THE Federal Government is not thinking of merging the operations  of the Economic  and  Financial  Financial  Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Code of Conduct  Bureau (CCB)  and other anti-graft agencies, the Chairman,  Presidential  Advisory  Committee  on Anti-Corruption, Prof Itse Sagay has said.

    Speaking on the sideline  of a conference on anti-corruption by the Institute of Directors of Nigeria (IoDs)  in Lagos, Sagay said issue bordering on what he described as fusion or amalgamation  of functions of anti-graft institutions and their corollaries is not in the radar of the Federal Government  for now.

    He said what Nigerians are seeing or perceiving as attempts by the government  to combine  the functions of the agencies for effective operation, do not really  reflect the intention of the government  on the issue.

    He said: “EFFC, ICPC, CCB and others are not been considered for merger for now,  despite the fact that that their roles are similar  or subsumed into one another  in order to ensure effective tackling of corruption  issue  and related vices. Though discussions are on-going on the issue, for now, it is not likely  that the organisations would be merge.’’

    Sagay said the Federal Government is giving attention to the training of judges and lawyers to enable them handle corruption cases well, stressing that the government has identified and selected judges that would handle corruption cases in the country.

    “The judges were selected across the country. They are selected across the states in the country.  The fact that they are selected, does not mean that other judges are not good enough to handle issues relating to misappropriation of funds, stealing and other corrupt issues. The government only wants to ensure that corruption is tackled headlong for the growth of the country, “ he added.

    The former Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Benin  and Obafemi Awolowo University ( Ile Ife) said corruption has become a disturbing issue in Nigeria, in view of the stunning revelations of corrupt practices which the country is battling to grapple with now.

    According to him, judges and other accomplices in corruption matters are devising different ingenuous methods of collecting bribe every day.

    He said some people are collecting cash as bribe, stressing that they do not want the money to be paid into their accounts for fear of being traced.

  • Editorial on ICPC off the mark

    SIR: The Nation’s editorial comment of Monday, January 6, titled “We need to fight corruption with more seriousness” raised some concerns on the prospects of a successful prosecution of the new anti-corruption initiative of the present administration. However, many of the issues it raised appeared to have been borne out of some misconceptions.

    Kicking off from a familiar rendition of failed attempts by previous successive administrations to curb corruption, the editorial rightly observed that those administrations merely played to the gallery and consequently, their avowed fight against corruption “ended not only in futility but in compounding the problem.”

    The Nation also rightly noted that President Buhari has brought in the much needed sincerity and commitment, which the anti-corruption war lacked under some of his predecessors.  It said: “ The ‘new’ anti-corruption ‘war’ under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is obviously more purposeful and under an overall leadership well known to be averse to corruption.”

    Having recognised the importance of the commitment or otherwise of the political authorities to the success  or failure of the anti-graft war, the editorial curiously turned round to heap the blame of the failed anti-graft efforts of the past on the two major anti-corruption agencies, namely the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which it  said “have apparently proven to be organs for furthering untold official graft”.

    Not only is this allegation serious, it is unfair to the anti-graft agencies for the simple reason that the editorial neither substantiated it nor offered any reasonable explanation, throughout the 11-paragraph comment to justify it.  More worrisome was the attempt to dismiss, off hand, the well known and publicly acknowledged constraints such as paucity of funds and slowness of judicial proceedings which had hitherto hindered the capacity of the agencies to deliver to the fullest.

    It is particularly surprising that The Nation was enraged by the submission of  the chairman of ICPC, Barrister Ekpo Nta, on these two hindrances when he appeared before a committee at the National Assembly. It is equally incredible that the editorial claimed ignorance of previous efforts by the ICPC to bring to the attention of the authorities these two and other critical issues militating against the anti-graft war such as lack of real independence in the years past to intervene in any case of corruption without being petitioned. The editorial particularly berated the ICPC for having over 400 unresolved corruption related cases in court as if the commission was responsible  for the inability of the courts to decide those cases with despatch. In its bid to condemn the ICPC roundly no matter what, the editorial refused to acknowledge the commission’s successes already in the public domain.

    Is the newspaper really unaware of ICPC’s high rate of conviction and the fact that some of its convictions challenged by the convicts were sustained at the appellate court?  Is The Nation unaware that the ICPC under Barrister Ekpo Nta secured a landmark decision of the Court of Appeal to wade into any suspected cases of corruption without petition?

    All told, that editorial comment smelt more like a case of calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it. It fell far short of an informed opinion expected of a reputable newspaper like The Nation.

     

    • Oladapo Adebayo,

    Ilorin, Kwara State.

  • ICPC arraigns ex-Governor Sani for alleged N1b fraud

    ICPC arraigns ex-Governor Sani for alleged N1b fraud

    Former Zamfara State Governor Ahmed Rufai Sani was docked yesterday for allegedly mismanaging a N1billion loan meant for the repair of Gusau Dam in 2006.

    About N425,491,736.75 of the N1billion was allegedly diverted to other purposes.

    The trial of Sani in Zamfara High Court 4 was, however, turned into a political carnival.

    The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) team,  led by Prosecutor Raheem Adesina arrived at the court premises to meet a hostile crowd of political appointees, including commissioners.

    Some of the supporters yelled at the ICPC officials  for putting Sani on trial.

    According to a top official of ICPC, the four-man team of the anti-graft agency was rescued and escorted out of Gusau, the state capital, by mobile policemen after the court session.

    The source said: “The ICPC photographer, Solomon Kolo, was almost lynched by the enraged supporters of the accused person.

    “When Kolo was taking  Sani’s photograph in the dock, he was accosted by a man who claimed to be the Chief Security Officer of the accused person. He demanded for Kolo’s identification and verified it.

    “Although the supporters surged forward to attack Kolo, the operatives of DSS and mobile policemen formed a wall around the ICPC team amid threats.

    “Despite the threats, the ICPC team arraigned Sani before Justice Bello Muhammad Shinkafi.”

    Sani pleaded not guilty to the 19 charges slammed against him.

    Counsel to the respondent, Mahmud Abubakar (SAN), urged the court to admit Sani to bail on personal recognition.

    He said  his client will “not in any way attempt to jump bail because he is an established personality with an immense political influence as the state’s political leader, as well as being a  Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

    The ICPC was represented by A. I. Raheem and Joseph Ugbo.

    Justice Shinkafi granted bail on conditions that the respondent must produce two recognised sureties, one of whom must be a resident of Gusau who owns a property worth N150m. Both sureties must have N100m.

    The court has adjourned the hearing till February 26 and March 1.

    Sani, popularly called Yerima Bakura, is alleged to have on or about November, 2006 whilst being Zamfara State governor spent money allocated for one project on another to wit: out of N1billion additional budgetary allocation by the House of Assembly for the repair of collapsed Gusau Dam and settlement of the victims of the said dam, which was obtained through a bank loan you spent N20m purportedly on assistance to INEC and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 22 (5) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.

    Out of the N1billion, Sani allegedly spent N10million purportedly on donation and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 22 (5) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.

  • Guber aspirant, four others re-arraigned for fraud

    Guber aspirant, four others re-arraigned for fraud

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) Thursday re-arraigned a governorship aspirant in Nasarawa State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Yusuf Agabi, and four others before a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on charges of alleged N605m fraud.

    Agabi, a former director at the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and others were re-arraigned before Justice Adegboyega Adeniyi on a 46- count of fraud.

    Those arraigned with Agabi are Akpore Okeroghene (Deputy Director of Finance), Abibu Ayinla (Director of Finance), Idowu Adewale (Deputy Director Accounts) and Ngozi James (Deputy Director Accounts).

    The re-arraignment was informed by the re-assignment of the case to Justice Adeniyi from Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf.

    The case was re-assigned to Justice Adenyi following a petition by some of the accused persons to the court’s Chief Judge, Justice Ishaq Bello, accusing Justice Baba Yusuf of bias in his handling of the case.

    The prosecution had already called one of its witnesses before the case was transferred to Justice Adeniyi.

    The accused pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to them. They were said to have fraudulently withdrawn N605m from the Constituency Project account of the ministry without authorization.

    It also alleged that the accused persons perpetrated the fraud using fictitious claims through payment vouchers containing false information. Some of them were said to have used the proceeds to build private houses.

    After the arraignment, Justice Adeniyi ordered that the accused persons should continue to enjoy the bail earlier granted by Justice Baba-Yusuf and adjourned to March 1 for the commencement of trial.

     

  • ICPC chairman Nta pleads with Senate to help improve revenue

    ICPC chairman Nta pleads with Senate to help improve revenue

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has pleaded with the Senate to help improve its poor financial status.

    The commission’s chairman, Mr. Ekpo Nta, spoke when the Senate committee on Anti-corruption and Financial Crimes visited him in Abuja.

    Nta, who expressed delight in the Senate’s support for the commission’s preventive approaches to the fight against corruption, lamented the sharp drop in its revenue between the 2016 budget projection of N4.6 billion and that of 2015 appropriation of N4.9billion.

    He urged the Senate to offer assistance on need for increased revenue for ICPC for wider operations, adding that plans to renovate the headquarters complex due to its physical dilapidation over the years were being stalled by lack of adequate funding.

    Nta said though ICPC believed in the efficacy of severe sanctions through arrest and prosecution of offenders, the Senate’s understanding of its preventive strategy on corruption prevention was most welcome.

     He told the Senate Committee to count on ICPC on ability to brace the determination of the present Government’s to tackle corruption head-on, having drawn up new strategies to complement the desire of the government.

     He pledged that ICPC would work hard and get more dedicated to the fight against corruption in line with the agenda of the government to this effect.

     The Chairman, Senate Committee on Anti-corruption and Financial Crimes, Senator Godfery Utazi, expressed support for the commission’s preventive strategy, describing it as an effective means of curbing corruption in Nigeria.

     The Senate noted that the preventive approach required 60 percent of efforts by ICPC on fight against corruption. This he said was in line with the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).

    The emphasis on preventive measure, according to the chairman, was a more robust way of addressing the menace of corruption in developing countries like Nigeria.

    He advised that the remaining forty percent should be devoted equally to application of severe sanctions, public enlightenment and strengthening of ethics.

    He promised the assistance of his Committee towards strengthening ICPC by means of reviewing the enabling law and provision that set it up.

     He said: “We shall meet every stakeholder, especially in the administration of justice to strengthen ICPC. We want you to give us information where you have bottlenecks in your operations. There is need for ICPC to be everywhere, its presence in 15 states is not adequate.

     “It bothers us as a Committee that all what we hear about the fight against corruption is limited to the prosecution of alleged corrupt people most times. We want to hear more about prevention too. The United Nations Convention against Corruption talks greatly about prevention. I think that is what we should be looking at”.