Former Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation
Board (JAMB), Professor Adedibu Ojerinde standing trial over an alleged N5
billion fraud on Tuesday in Abuja opted for a plea bargain with the Independent
Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).
At the Federal High Court in Abuja, where his trial was
scheduled to commence, Ojerinde pleaded with the trial Judge, Justice Obiora
Egwuatu to give him 24 hours to settle himself with ICPC through a plea bargain
instead of a formal trial.
His new lead counsel, Ibrahim Ishyaku, a Senior Advocate of
Nigeria (SAN), told the court that his client prefers an out of court
settlement known as a plea bargain to resolve the matter.
The senior lawyer informed the judge that the trial could commence
if, after 24 hours, the matter could not be resolved.
“My Lord, our plea is that we be given 24 hours to explore
the possibility of a plea bargain to resolve this matter and we ask that the
trial be adjourned for the period to enable us to come up with our terms of the
settlement.”
ICPC lawyer, Mr Ebenezer Sogunle did not object to the
request but insisted that the trial would proceed in case the plea bargain
fails.
The ICPC had on July 8, 2021, arraigned the former JAMB
Registrar on an 18-count charge bordering on diversion of public funds to the
tune of over N900 million.
He was said to have committed the offence during his tenure
as Registrar of the National Examination Council (NECO) and JAMB.
Ojerinde however pleaded not guilty to all the charges and
was later admitted to bail in the sum of N200 million.
Meanwhile, Justice Egwuatu has fixed February 9, for a
report of the plea bargain to be presented.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com