A staff of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Iyonu Eseme, has been convicted by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja has after been apprehended for using forgged certificates to obtain the job.
Eseme, who pleaded guilty after evidences obtained by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) were placed before him, opted for a plea bargain.
The FAAN staff, after opting for a plea bargain, was fined by the court N50,000, as a measure to reprimind him over his conducts.
He was convicted after the ICPC arraigned him before Justice M.I. Tanko in the Abuja court on a three-count charge bordering on forgging a Trade Test Certificate to obtain employment with the agency.
The charges were brought under Sections 366 and 368 of the Penal Code Act, as well as Section 25 (1)(b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.
One of the charges read: “That you, Iyonu Eseme (M), sometime in the month of August 2020 at Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did with intent to commit fraud, forge a Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity Certificate of Competence also known as Trade Test Certificate I, II, III (2014) with trade test code KN/6/90052, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 363 and punishable under Section 364 of the Penal Code.”
Upon arraignment, the defendant, through his counsel, Anthony Eruaga, opted for a plea bargain, a request that the prosecuting counsel for the ICPC, Nura Saidu, accepted in accordance with Section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 and recommended to the court a conviction with a fine.
Tanko, having considered the plea and the agreement reached by both parties, convicted Eseme and sentenced him to a fine him for ₦50,000.
The ICPC reiterates its commitment to ensuring integrity and transparency in public institutions and warns that acts of forgery and other corrupt practices will not go unpunished.
