A federal high court in Abuja on Tuesday dismissed the
no-case submission filed by Dibu Ojerinde, the former registrar of the Joint
Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Ojerinde is standing trial on an 18-count charge over an
alleged N5.2 billion fraud.
Obiora Egwuatu, the presiding judge, while ruling on the
no-case submission filed by the defendant, held that witnesses presented by the
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) have
been able to establish elements of the offence against Ojerinde that require
him to enter a defence.
“The no-case submission fails and is dismissed,” the judge
ruled.
Egwuatu ordered Ojerinde to enter his defence and adjourned
the matter to July 16.
The ICPC is alleging that Ojerinde committed multiple frauds
while heading the National Examinations Council (NECO) and JAMB.
He was arraigned in July 2021 over allegations bordering on
abuse of office and fraudulent diversion of funds from government coffers to
the tune of N5.2 billion.
However, the former JAMB registrar pleaded not guilty to all
the counts.
In the proof of evidence tendered before the court by
Ebenezer Shogunle, prosecution counsel, the anti-corruption agency also accused
Ojerinde of conferring corrupt advantage upon himself at different times while
he was the registrar and chief executive of JAMB and NECO, respectively.
The allegations violate sections 19, 24, 25 (1) (a) and (b)
of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and section 1
(1) (1) (1)(b) of the Advance Fee Fraud Act, 2006.
In February 2022, a plea bargain entered into by Ojerinde,
through his counsel, Ibrahim Ishyaku, failed, and the trial continued.
The ICPC has closed its case after calling several witnesses
to substantiate the allegations.
But Ojerinde decided to file a no-case submission, which the
court dismissed.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com