Two employees of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a two-count charge of corruption and diverting salaries of some former staff members of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Ebute Meta, Lagos.
The two civil servants, a Chief Accountant, Shola Onasanya and a Principal Executive Officer in the accounts department, Halimat Olalere, were arraigned before the Federal High Court in Lagos by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).
The defendants, who work at the FMC’s IPPIS Payroll Desk Office, pleaded guilty after entering into a plea bargain agreement with the ICPC.
The Commission had claimed that the defendants unlawfully converted N1.17 million for personal use by failing to stop the salaries of employees who had exited the service.
The ICPC had maintained that the offence contravenes Section 18(2)(d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2022.
When the case was called on Wednesday, the prosecutor, Enosa Omoghibo, informed the trial judge, Justice Ibrahim Kala, about the plea bargain agreement, stating that an amended charge had been filed on September 4, and requested that this new charge be read to the defendants.
However, the judge reminded the prosecutor that he ought to have sought his permission before presenting the amended charge.
Following the judge’s position, Omoghibo applied for the court’s approval to substitute the initial charge with the amended one, which was met with no objections from the defence counsel.
The defendants then pleaded guilty to the charges.
Based on the development, the prosecutor applied, referencing section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, for the plea bargain agreement to be accepted as the judgment in the case.
Again, Justice Kala pointed out that, according to section 274 of the ACJA, the court could not proceed to convict the defendants without tendered evidence.
He noted that while the guilty pleas were significant, they alone could not guarantee a conviction without supporting evidence from the prosecution.
As a result, the counsel requested an adjournment to prepare appropriate documentation, and the court agreed to adjourn the case to September 18 for a review of the facts.
The defendants allegedly committed the offence between January and December 2023 at the FMC in Ebute Meta, Lagos.
The prosecution claimed that the defendants had altered the account details of Olalere, the second defendant, to continue receiving salaries meant for former staff.
The first defendant, Onasanya, reportedly instructed Olalere to transfer the former employees’ salaries into his account.
The second defendant is accused of assisting the first defendant in converting the total sum of N1.17 million, which constitutes proceeds of corruption.
