The Kwara State High Court in Ilorin has convicted a former local government chairman in the state for making false statements to an investigator.
Alhassan Bagudu, who had served as chairman of the Kaiama local government area of Kwara state, was found guilty and jailed for one year but with the option of a 100,000 naira fine.
The judge, M. AbdulGarfa, found him guilty on the charge of making false statements to an investigator of the Independent Commission of Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes (ICPC).
ICPC spokeswoman Azuka Ogugwa, who revealed this in a statement on Thursday, said Bagudu pleaded not guilty when he was first prosecuted.
However, during the trial, ICPC prosecution lawyers Peace Arocha and Golden Iwuagwu presented evidence in support of the allegation that the former local government president had purchased a used ‘Toyota Prado Jeep’ for N13 million, while that the approval was for a new car. .
The court also heard how Mr. Bagudu claimed that the jeep was purchased by Quadrish Motors in the knowledge that it was a fake, thereby making a false statement to a constituted authority.
One of the charges reads: “That you, Alhassan Yahaya Bagudu (M), at some point in April 2018 or so in Ilorin, Kwara State, knowingly made false statements to Adamu Lere Murtala, an investigating officer of the Independent Commission of Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes in the exercise of his duties as an investigator when he stated that the Toyota Prado jeep that was purchased for his position as President of the Local Government of Kaiama was supplied by Quadrish Motors when in fact the Toyota Prado jeep was not was supplied by Quadrish Motors…”
The offense was said to contravene section 25(1)(b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Act 2000 and is punishable under the same section.