By Nkechi Eze
A retired Director from the Office of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Mrs. Mayen Gajere, recently testified on behalf of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in an ongoing forgery trial involving Mr. Taiwo Stephen Ayodeji.
A statement made available to newsmen, signed by the commission’s spokesman states that; ICPC, had in a charge number: CR/008 filed before Justice A.Y Shafa of the Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Nyanya, accused Mr. Ayodeji of forging an employment letter of Federal Ministry of Power.
He was also said to have obtained by false pretense, eleven months salaries, amounting to N760,705.44 (Seven Hundred and Sixty Thousand, Seven Hundred and Five Naira, Forty-Four Kobo) while being under the employment of the same ministry with the purported fake employment letter.
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, Mrs. Gajere, who was presented by ICPC as Prosecution Witness 3 testified before the court that the ICPC invited her to explain to the court the procedures for employment in government parastatals and Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) works.
She drew the attention of the court to the processes involved in the appointment and recruitment process in the Federal Civil Service and the integration of civil servants into the IPPIS payment system.
A second witness, Mr. Victor Okorafor, an officer of ICPC, who was tagged Prosecution Witness 4 (PW 4) equally testified against the defendant based on the investigation carried out on the matter.
He said “The Commission wrote a letter of investigation activities to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation asking the office to confirm status of the employment of the defendant and they responded via a letter dated 18th May 2022 confirming that the name of the defendant was on the IPPIS Platform though no document was found on his profile.
“During investigation, when the defendant was interviewed concerning how he came about the employment letter, he mentioned one Mr. Williams Umude that was working with IPPIS.
In addition to the allegations of forgery, the defendant is also being prosecuted by ICPC for giving a false statement to an investigation officer of the Commission which is an offence contrary to section 25(1)(a) and punishable under section 25(1)(b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.
After listening to the testimonies, Justice Shafa adjourned the matter to 24th of March, 2025 for adoption of no case submission.
The defendant had been arraigned on 12th February 2024 and pleaded not guilty to all the counts preferred against him and was consequently granted bail by the court.
