the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) says it received three petitions calling for investigation from Chima Igwe, former director general of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO).
An ICPC researcher, Vera Esidene, said this on Monday while testifying at Ikeja Special Crimes Court as the first prosecution witness during Mr. Igwe’s trial for alleged certificate fraud.
As a member of ICPC’s prosecution team, Kehinde Adetoye, presented the evidence, Ms. Esidene said that in 2019, three petitions were written against the embattled Mr. Igwe calling for the investigation of his Ph.D. certificate.
“The first was titled, ‘Ph.D. counterfeit. Certificate of Chima Igwe’, the second was entitled, ‘Call to sound out the doctorate. Certificate’, and the third request was entitled, ‘Demand for Immediate Probe and Application for the Doctorate. Certified,’” she said.
The ICPC investigator said that upon receiving the petitions, the commission assigned the case to her team, which immediately sprang into action.
“Part of our strategies was to write letters to the defendant and to FIIRO and invite some staff members.
“We also wrote letters requesting some personnel documents, precisely the defendant’s approval letter to allow him to pursue his doctorate.
“We requested the letter you sent after you claimed to have completed the program. We also requested her promotion letter and an extract from the minutes of the board meeting held at FIIRO,” said Ms. Esidene.
During his testimony, Mr. Adetoye requested that the three petitions that were written against Mr. Igwe be submitted as evidence.
However, the defense attorney, Victor Opara, Nigeria’s lead attorney, objected to the prosecution’s introduction.
Mr. Opara said that the objection was based on the fact that the copies of the three documents (petitions) were not original copies and, as a result, did not meet the requirements of Section 86 of the Evidence Act.
“When the original is not produced, a reason must be given to his lordship. There is no basis as to where the original is.
“The authors of this document were not brought and the witness is not the author. I refer your honor to Section 83(1)(b) of the Evidence Act. As a result, this document remains a ‘hearsay documentary,’” he said.
In response, the ICPC team’s lead prosecutor, Henry Emore, said that the copies of the petitions were public documents.
“The documents are from private citizens, but they were addressed to the ICPC president. Immediately these documents were received by ICPC, they became public documents.
“The witness has presented the documents in their proper form and we have complied with all the requirements for certification of the documents under Section 104 of the Evidence Act,” he said.
Judge Sherifat Solebo, in a ruling, admitted the petitions into evidence, noting that it was not necessary to bring the petitioners to court for the petitions to be admissible as evidence.
“Petitions are central to this trial. Certified True Copies of any public document are admissible as evidence, not the original.
“Nothing proscribes the admissibility of these three documents. I hereby admit them as Exhibits A1, A2 and A3,” said Solebo.
The case was adjourned until February 22 for the continuation of the trial.
Charges
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reports that Mr. Igwe is facing a three-count charge of giving a document with false information, using the position to offer an unfair advantage, and making false statements to a public official.
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ICPC alleged that Mr. Igwe, while a public official of FIIRO, knowingly provided the organization, with intent to mislead, a letter of certification signifying the completion of a Ph.D. degree program of the University of Abomey-Calavi (UAC), Republic of Benin.
The offenses contravene Sections 17(1)(c), 19 and 25(1)(b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Act.
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He was appointed acting director general of the institute on May 13, 2019, and fired in February 2020 after failing to submit his doctoral certificate more than 17 years after claiming to have obtained the degree, according to the Punch newspaper.
He received various promotions based on the alleged certificate. His alleged crime came to light when his colleagues filed a petition with ICPC.
According to information on the institute’s website, the 57-year-old joined as Research Officer 1 and rose through the ranks to become Director of the Department of Chemical Fiber and Environmental Technology in June 2010.
(YAYA)