The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission said on Wednesday that it remained undaunted in its prosecution of a former Registrar of Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde.
The ICPC, which is prosecuting Ojerinde for alleged N5bn fraud, alleged in a statement on Wednesday that the the don “used several false names, aliases, and forged means of identification such as Akanbi Lamidi, Adeniyi Banji, Habibulahi Lamidi, Joshua Olaniran Olakuleyin, etc to perpetrate his corrupt practices through various bank accounts and still retains the resources and influence to evade justice.”
The ICPC also rejected a recent ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which ordered it to pay Ojerinde N1m damages over his re-arrest on January 26 on the court premises.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu, ruling on a fundamental rights suit filed by Ojerinde, had declared that the re-arrest and continued detention of the JAMB ex-helmsman was illegal, holding that the ICPC violated Ojerinde’s right to personal liberty.
The judge ordered the anti-graft agency to pay Ojerinde N1m in damages in addition to another N200,000 as the cost of instituting the lawsuit.
But in a statement on Wednesday by its spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua, the ICPC rejected the ruling, declaring that it was going to challenge it at the Court of Appeal.
The ICPC contended that Ojerinde’s re-arrest was based on a warrant issued by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.
“The ICPC expressed its dissatisfaction with the ruling of the Federal High Court, Abuja on the civil rights claim filed by the former Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde.
“The commission intends to appeal the ruling of the court. The anti-corruption agency has a valid warrant issued by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court dated December 6, 2022,” it read.
Punch