ICPC arraigns two anti-graft fighters for N72.6m fraud

ICPC Chairman, Mr. Ekpo Nta

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has arraigned two officials of the National Anti-corruption Volunteer Corps, Akinyemi Badejogun and Olanrewaju Bakare, for an alleged theft of N72.6m.

Badejogun and Bakare are the Coordinator and the Treasurer respectively of the Lagos Chapter of the NACV.

The ICPC on Tuesday charged them with 36 counts before Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja.

But the two officers pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

However, the ICPC, in its charge before the court, alleged that Badejogun and Bakare conspired to commit felony, stole and fraudulently converted funds belonging to the NAVC to their own personal use.

They were also accused of making false and misleading statements to an operative of the ICPC.

The offences, the commission alleged, were committed between December 2010 and November 28, 2011.

In one of the counts, Badejogun and Bakare allegedly conspired to transfer N55m from the NAVC’s account in Fidelity Bank into another account belonging to the corps in the same bank.

According to the ICPC, the accused did this to confer corrupt advantage on themselves and thereby ran foul of sections 19 and 26(1)(c) of the ICPC Act 2000.

In another instance, the accused persons allegedly fraudulently transferred N800,000 from the account of the trustees of the Lagos Chapter of the NAVC in Fidelity Bank and converted same to their own.

The ICPC said this contravened sections 516 and 390(8)(b) and was punishable under Section 390 (9) of the Criminal Code Act Cap 38, Vol. 4 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

They were also accused to have at several other instances stolen varying sums of money running into millions of naira from the corps’ account and that of its trustees.

The ICPC further charged Badejogun and Bakare for violating Section 25 (1)(a) of the ICPC Act 2000, saying they were liable to being punished under section 25 (1)(b) of the Act.

Following their arraignment and not guilty plea, Lawal-Akapo adjourned till July 3, 2015 to entertain their applications for bail.