Taiwo Popoola
A retired Director in the Office of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Mrs. Mayen Gajere, has testified for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, in the ongoing forgery trial of one Mr Taiwo Stephen Ayodeji.
ICPC had, in charge number CR/008 filed before Justice A.Y. Shafa of the Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Nyanya, accused Mr. Ayodeji of forging an employment letter from the Federal Ministry of Power.
He was also accused of obtaining, by pretence, eleven months’ salaries, amounting to N760,705.44 (Seven Hundred and Sixty Thousand, Seven Hundred and Five Naira, Forty-Four Kobo) while being employed by the same ministry with the purported fake employment letter.
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, Mrs Gajere, who was presented by ICPC as Prosecution Witness 3, testified before the court that the ICPC invited her to explain to the court the procedures for employment in government parastatals and how the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) works.
She drew the court’s attention to the processes involved in the appointment and recruitment process in the Federal Civil Service and the integration of civil servants into the IPPIS payment system.
A second witness, Mr Victor Okorafor, an officer of ICPC, who was tagged Prosecution Witness 4 (PW 4), also testified against the defendant based on the investigation carried out on the matter.
He said, “The Commission wrote a letter of investigation activities to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, asking the office to confirm the status of the employment of the defendant, and they responded via a letter dated 18th May 2022 confirming that the defendant’s name was on the IPPIS Platform, though no document was found on his profile.”
“During the investigation, when the defendant was interviewed about how he came about the employment letter, he mentioned one Mr. Williams Umude, who was working with IPPIS.”
In addition to the allegations of forgery, the defendant is also being prosecuted by ICPC for giving a false statement to an investigating officer of the Commission, an offence contrary to section 25(1)(a) and punishable under section 25(1)(b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.
After listening to the testimonies, Justice Shafa adjourned the matter to 24th March 2025 for adoption of no-case submission.
The defendant had been arraigned on 12th February 2024 and pleaded not guilty to all the counts preferred against him, and was consequently granted bail by the court.
