The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Superintendent, Mr. Solomon Ogodo, has been found guilty of forgery, employment racketeering, and fraud by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC).

This was announced by the commission on Tuesday in a post on its X microblogging site.

In December 2022, Mr. Ogodo was arraigned by the ICPC before Hon. Justice M.S. Idris of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT High Court, Abuja, with charge number CR/503/2022.

For scamming unwary job seekers out of N12,200,000, he was charged.

According to the ICPC’s five-count accusation, the defendant had deceived several unsuspecting Nigerians into paying varying amounts of money on multiple occasions under the pretense of getting them jobs with the Nigeria Correctional Services, or NCoS.

During the trial, Mr. Hamza Sani, the prosecutor for the ICPC, spoke in court about how the convicted individual had falsified offers of temporary positions for certain applicants to the NCoS.

The commission claims that his activities violate Section 13 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Act 2000 and are punishable under Section 68.

The activities also breached and are penalized under Section 1 of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Related Offence Act of 2006, the ICPC added, adding that the offense is against Section 363 and punishable under Section 364 of the Penal Code Act.

Counsel representing Mr. Ogodo, Mr. A. A. Nwoye, begged the court to change the jail term to community service for the convicted individual just before the jail sentence was handed down on Monday.

On his behalf, the prosecution’s attorney requested that the court consider section 319 (1) an of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, which requires the convicted party to reimburse the victims of his actions for the whole amount he has received.

In his ruling, Judge M.S. Idris sentenced Mr. Ogodo to seven years in prison on counts one through three (without the possibility of a fee) and two months in prison or a five thousand naira fine on count four.

On count five of the charge, the convicted party was also sentenced to two months in prison without the possibility of a fine.

In Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Peter Obi, the former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, paid a visit to Afe Babalola, SAN, a renowned Nigerian lawyer.

Obi had begged Babalola to take into account the “situation” of Dele Farotimi, a human rights attorney who is now being held on remand at the Ekiti prison.

Since Babalola asked the police to detain Farotimi, he has drawn harsh condemnation from a number of Nigerians.

On Monday, the court granted Farotimi bail in the sum of N50 million and a surety in like sum.

However, Obi has decided to try and mediate between the two lawyers.

A social activist, Moses Paul, posted pictures and images of Obi’s visit to Ado-Ekiti on X and wrote: “Today, Mr. Peter Obi traveled from Lagos to Ekiti State, dedicating the entire day to meaningful engagements.

He paid Aare Afe Babalola a visit at his office at Afe Babalola University, where they engaged in lengthy conversations about important topics, such as the predicament of activists and attorney Dele Farotimi.

Mr. Peter Obi then went to the prison where Dele Farotimi is being kept.

“During a private meeting, he showed support and had an open discussion to address the current issues.”

 

The Ekiti State High Court has granted bail to human rights attorney Dele Farotimi.

Farotimi was given N50 million bail by the court along with an equal amount of surety.

The court postponed the case until January 29, 2025, for additional hearings after ruling that the surety must own a landed property.

Following his arrest by Ekiti State Police Command agents, Farotimi was brought before Chief Afe Babalola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

Babalola, 95, said in a book called Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System that Farotimi had defamed him.

The Nigerian Bar Association and civil society organizations demanded the activist’s release after the detention caused indignation throughout the nation.

According to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s growing debt load is a serious issue for both the current and upcoming generations.

Obasanjo revealed this during the recent “Boiling Point Arena” Zoom interactive session.

By the conclusion of the second quarter of 2024, Nigeria’s debt had increased by N12.6 trillion in just three months, to N134.3 trillion ($91.3bn).

According to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s growing debt load is a serious issue for both the current and upcoming generations.

Obasanjo revealed this during the recent “Boiling Point Arena” Zoom interactive session.

By the conclusion of the second quarter of 2024, Nigeria’s debt had increased by N12.6 trillion in just three months, to N134.3 trillion ($91.3bn).

Compared to the N121.7 trillion recorded in the first quarter of this year, this represents a 10.35% growth.

“Yes, I was able to secure debt forgiveness for the nation prior to my departure from office,” Obasanjo responded, “but our current debt profile is a problem for both this generation and the next.”

Obasanjo pointed to South Korea and Singapore as instances of countries whose advancements were founded on integrity-driven and merit-based leadership.

He believes that fighting corruption from the top is the most effective strategy.

“Top-down approaches are the most effective way to combat corruption. Merit-based appointments are made by South Korean presidents, and this has become the nation’s tradition,” he stated.