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A Federal High Court successful Lagos, connected Wednesday, fixed September 18 for the reappraisal of facts successful a complaint against 2 unit members of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) implicit alleged corruption.
The defendants, Shola Onasanya, a Chief Accountant and Halimat Olalere, a Principal Executive Officer of accounts, are some unit members of the IPPIS Payroll Desk Office astatine the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Ebute Meta, Lagos.
They were dragged earlier Justice Ibrahim Kala by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) connected an amended two-count complaint bordering connected diverting the salaries of workers who had exited the FMC.
When the lawsuit was called connected Wednesday, the prosecutor, Mr Enosa Omoghibo, an Assistant Director of the ICPC, informed the tribunal of a plea bargain statement by the defendants.
He told the tribunal that, pursuing the plea bargain statement filed connected September 4, the prosecution had consequently filed an amended complaint and applied that it beryllium work to the defendants.
The court, however, informed the authoritative that support from the tribunal should beryllium sought archetypal earlier the amended complaint was introduced.
Taking a hint from the court, Omoghibo past sought permission of tribunal to substitute the archetypal complaint with the amended complaint and to person the amended complaint work to the defendants.
There was nary objection from defence counsel.
The defendants pleaded blameworthy to the charge, respectively.
Following their blameworthy pleas, the authoritative moved an exertion citing the provisions of conception 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, for the statement to beryllium entered.
He prayed that the tribunal participate the presumption of the plea bargain agreement, which was supported by a connection of facts and a verifying affidavit, arsenic judgement successful the case.
Again, Justice Kala drew the attraction of the prosecuting counsel to the provisions of Section 274 of the ACJA, adding that the tribunal cannot safely proceed to convict the defendants without immoderate grounds being adduced earlier the court.
The tribunal further hinted that, though the defendants had pleaded guilty, their blameworthy pleas alone, without grounds from the prosecution, cannot safely unafraid a conviction.
Kala held that the prosecution inactive had the load of impervious to discharge, adding that the blameworthy pleas by the defendants had lone lightened this burden.
Consequently, the defence counsel applied for an adjournment to alteration him to instrumentality the indispensable steps, and the tribunal adjourned the lawsuit until September 18 for a reappraisal of the facts.
According to the charge, the defendants were alleged to person committed the offence betwixt January and December 2023 astatine the FMC successful Ebute Meta, Lagos.
They were alleged to person converted the proceeds to their idiosyncratic use, amounting to a full sum of N1.17 million, by failing to instrumentality the indispensable steps arsenic payroll table officers to halt the salaries of immoderate staffers who had exited the service.
The prosecution informed the tribunal that the defendants had substituted the relationship of Olalere (the 2nd defendant), into which the salaries of the erstwhile staffers were continuously paid.
The archetypal suspect (Onasanya) was said to person directed Olalere to transportation the said salaries of the erstwhile workers received into his ain account.
According to the prosecutor, the 2nd suspect aided the archetypal suspect successful converting the full sum of N1.17 million, which was the proceeds of corruption, to his idiosyncratic use.
The offence contravenes the provisions of Section 18(2)(d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2022.
The station IPPIS accountants plead blameworthy to diverting salaries of erstwhile workers appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.
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