By Nkechi Eze
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has secured the conviction of two staff members of the National Assembly, Mustapha Mohammed and Tijjani Adam Goni, for their involvement in a fraudulent job scam amounting to N4.8 million. The duo were found guilty of defrauding two victims, Saifudeen Yakub and Aminu Abubakar, under the guise of securing employment for them at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
In an official statement signed by the Director of Public Enlightenment and Education of the ICPC, Demola Bakare, the case originated from a petition (number ICPC/P/NC/1056/2022) filed by the victims. According to the petition, on May 27, 2021, one Mustapha Mohammed, who is currently at large, introduced himself as a staff of the National Assembly and claimed that his associate, the first defendant, could facilitate employment opportunities at the CBN for N4 million each. He assured that the offer letters would be issued on April 27, 2021.
To advance the fraudulent arrangement, the suspects demanded and received an initial deposit of N3 million from the two petitioners. The payment was traced to a Zenith Bank account number 1000765449 belonging to the first defendant. Further investigation revealed that on April 27, 2021, the first defendant demanded an additional N300,000 each from the complainants, purportedly for a medical screening exercise. The payments were made into an Access Bank account number 0090719034 owned by one Badraddin Mohammed.
Following diligent investigation by the ICPC, the two defendants were subsequently arraigned before Honourable Justice B.M. Bassi of the FCT High Court No. 55, sitting in Asokoro, Abuja.
During the court proceedings, the ICPC prosecuting counsel, Fatima Abdullahi Bardi, informed the court that the accused persons faced a five-count charge bordering on fraud, forgery, and conspiracy. The charges were related to their attempt to fraudulently secure jobs for the petitioners at the CBN and FIRS.
Count one was based on an offence contrary to section 1(1)(a) and punishable under section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006. Counts two and three accused the defendants of conspiring to forge an employment letter dated June 28, 2021, purportedly issued by the CBN under the title “Final Document List,” in an attempt to deceive and extort money from the victims. These offences contravened section 363 of the Penal Code and were punishable under section 364.
Similarly, counts four and five accused the defendants of forging a letter of employment dated June 11, 2021, in favour of one Mustapha Muhammad, purportedly from the FIRS. Count four specifically read: “That you, Ibrahim Suleiman Umar (m) and Tijjani Adam Goni (m), on or about June 2021 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired to forge a letter of employment dated 11th June 2021 purportedly issued by the Federal Inland Revenue Service in favour of one Mustapha Muhammad, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 363 and punishable under section 364 of the Penal Code.”
In line with Section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, which governs plea bargaining, the defendants opted for a plea negotiation and agreed to refund the total sum of N4.8 million to the ICPC Recovery Account. Consequently, they pleaded guilty to an amended one-count charge of making false statements contrary to section 25 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
On October 29, 2025, Justice B.M. Bassi convicted and sentenced the two defendants to pay a fine of N100,000 each after confirming that the full refund of N4.8 million had been made into the Commission’s recovery account.
