By Desire Emmanuel
A federal civil servant who was said to have forged academic and NYSC certificates to get employment has been ordered to refund N36.5 million he earned as salaries and allowances to the coffers of the government.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) secured the conviction of the man, Muhammad Said Musa, a staff member of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), for making false statements through the use of forged academic and service certificates.
The conviction was handed down by Justice Mandy Bassi of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Asokoro, Abuja, following a one-count amended charge pursuant to a plea bargain agreement entered into by him.
The court found out that Musa presented a forged Bachelor of Science degree certificate in Political Science purportedly issued by the University of Maiduguri, as well as a forged National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Certificate which he used to secure employment with the NIPC.
It was gathered that the offence came to light after the ICPC received a request from the Executive Secretary of the NIPC for a staff verification audit and during the exercise, the commission discovered that the certificates submitted by the man were not genuine. Further independent verification confirmed that both certificates were forged.
Counsel to the ICPC, Mr O. R. Bada, informed the court that the man’s actions contravened Section 25(1)(a) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
The prosecution disclosed that he was initially arraigned on a six-count charge bordering on forgery and false statements. However, following an application for leniency and his willingness to cooperate, the charges were reduced to a single count in line with a plea bargain agreement.
As part of the plea-bargain agreement, he was ordered to refund the sum of N36.5 million being salaries and allowances earned from the false representation into the ICPC Recovery Account.
Counsel to the man, Mr C.O.C. Emeka Izima told the court that his client was remorseful and had demonstrated genuine repentance by agreeing to refund all benefits derived from the offence.
In her judgment, Justice Bassi upheld the plea bargain agreement and sentenced the defendant to a non-custodial term, ordering him to be of good conduct and to pay a fine of ₦50,000.
