The court had fined the commission N1 million damages and cost of N200,000 respectively for the arrest and detention of Prof Dibu Ojerinde over allegedly corrupt practices.

The commission, in a statement issued by its spokesperson, Mrs. Azuka Ogugua, said it would appeal the ruling of the court.

The anti-corruption agency said it had a valid warrant issued by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court dated 6th December, 2022.

It said Prof. Ojerinde had used several false names, aliases and forged means of identification such as Akanbi Lamidi, Adeniyi Banji, Habibulahi Lamidi, Joshua Olaniran Olakuleyin, etc to perpetrate his corrupt practices through various bank accounts and still retained the resources and influence to evade justice.

The commission, the spokesperson said, remained undaunted and would continue to discharge its responsibilities with diligence and professionalism.

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Its spokesperson, Mrs Azuka Ogugua, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

She quoted the ICPC chairman, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, as promising in his opening remarks that the exercise would be transparent as much as possible.

Owasanoye commended the auctioneers for their cooperation and assured them that the commission would not renege on its pledge to ensure a fair and transparent process.

The ICPC boss, who was represented by Dr  Louis  Mandama, a board member, noted that the exercise was the first for 2023 and promised that the second exercise would hold in the second half of the year.

He stated that the mode of allocation of assets in the current stage would be different as there would be no batching of assets.

He gave assurance that the auctioneers would be allowed to go and take a look at the assets while working with the technical team in order to evaluate them.

The ICPC boss went further to say that complaints received from the five bidders after the broadcast of results on the commission’s website had been addressed.

At the commencement of the exercise, the bids submitted were sorted, marked and observed closely as the opening of the bids revealed the number of property bid for and its cost which were certified by the auctioneers.

The representatives of Bureau of Public Procurement, BPP, Alhaji Bello Nasir, and the representative of the Civil Society Organisations, CSO, Mr Paul Odokara, expressed satisfaction with the exercise.

They commended the transparent nature of the exercise hoping that its outcome would certainly meet the criteria set for the bidding.

They also advised other agencies to take a cue from ICPC, and charged the auctioneers on the need to adhere to instructions for easy identification of their bids to avoid any disqualification.

The exercise, which was held at the commission’s headquarters, had 25 auctioneers in attendance.

Source: NAN

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The announcement was made in a statement by the spokesperson of the commission, Mrs. Azuka Ogugua, in a statement issued on Saturday.

She said four vote buyers were arrested by the Osun State Office of the ICPC, two persons were arrested by the Sokoto State office while one person each was arrested by the Ondo, Akwa Ibom and Borno offices of the anti-graft agency.

The four vote buyers arrested in Osun State are Adewale Teslim, 32 years; Yemi Adebiyi, 42 years; Shake Idris, 36 years, and Emiola Joseph Oluwole, 69 years.

The suspects, who are in Osun State office custody, were found with documents containing lists of names, phone numbers and account details of voters during the election in the state.

Operatives of the Commission retrieved a list of names and phone numbers of voters from Adewale Teslim at Polling Unit 07, Ward 07, Ile Aganna in Olorunda local government area of Osun State.

The officers also recovered a list of people who had voted with their phone numbers and account details from Yemi Adebiyi at Polling Unit 06, Ward 04 at Ikirun Junction, Ikirun while Shake Idris was arrested at Polling Unit 6, Ward 10, Ofatedo area of Osun State with a note book containing over 100 names and account numbers.

The anti-corruption agency also recovered a note book containing a list of voters’ names and account details from Mrs. Afolabi Adijat at Ward 5, Polling Unit 04 of Ansar-ud-deen Mosque area of Olorunda local government.

The agency’s officers, however, couldn’t arrest Mrs. Afolabi Adijat due to the volatility of the area and insufficient armed personnel.

The Ondo State Office of the ICPC arrested one Mrs. Idowu-Yemi Omolere at Polling Unit 12, Ward 12 behind Dada Estate Police State in connection with the distribution of recharge cards to voters.

The ICPC personnel recovered 24 pieces of N500 recharge cards, a list of voters and their phone numbers as well as a techno phone.

The Borno State office of the ICPC arrested one Garba Bahausa at the Bulunkutu Ward in possession of four PVCs and the sum of N49,000.

The suspect distributed the money, food items and 20 wrappers.

In the course of his interrogation, Bahausa confessed that the money was given to him by a lawmaker to distribute to voters.

The Akwa Ibom State Office of the ICPC arrested a woman, Mrs. Idara Umoren, for collating the names and account details of voters suspected to have voted for her preferred candidate.

Umoren was arrested at the Signature Hotel Polling Unit on Plot 48G Line, Ewet Housing Estate, Akwa Ibom.

In Sokoto State, ICPC operatives arrested two persons – Hassan Muhammad and Nafisa Sani – for vote buying at the Rabah local government area of Sokoto.

Hassan Muhammad was caught in possession of signed tickets which were given to voters that voted for his party.

The ticket enabled the voters to be given women wrappers and bags of rice.

Nafisa Sani was intercepted while giving wrappers to voters at a polling unit in Rabah local government area of Sokoto.

The ICPC team also monitored the election in the Federal Capital Territory where it observed that INEC officials exhibited pronounced slackness in the administration of the elections in Lambata and Yebu Polling Units of Kwali Area Council.

Accreditation and voting were yet to commence in many polling units of the Kwali Area Council due to inadequate supply of electoral materials.

The ICPC operatives visited the INEC Office in Kwali Area Council to compel the officers in charge to provide voting materials which aided the commencement of the exercise in the area council.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the ICPC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, has commended the officers of the ICPC state offices and the headquarters for diligently monitoring the Presidential and National Assembly elections across the federation, thereby curtailing vote buying by some representatives of political parties.

He directed the state offices to carry out a detailed investigation of all those arrested for acts of corruption during the election on Saturday.

The commission, it will be recalled, had on Friday taken into custody one Hassan Ahmad who was in possession of the sum of N2 million cash in both old and new currencies in Bauchi State.

Ahmad was arrested by the Troops of 33 Artillery Brigade Operation Safe Conduct deployed to Alkaleri in Bauchi State and handed over to the Bauchi State office of the anti-corruption agency.

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The ICPC spokesperson,  Mrs MrsAzuka Ogugua, who said this in a statement in Abuja, added that the cash was in both old and new notes.

She said that the suspect was arrested on Friday by the Troops of 33 Artillery Brigade Operation Safe Conduct deployed to Alkaleri in Bauchi State and handed over to the Bauchi State Office of the anti-graft agency.

“Ahmad was in possession of N900,000 cash in new naira notes and N1.1 million in old naira notes and the funds were being conveyed in a tinted black Hilux vehicle with registration number JMA 85 AZ.

“The funds, which were packed in a “Ghana Must Go” bag, comprise six bundles of N1000 new notes of N600,000; six bundles of N500 new notes of N300,000, and old two hundred naira notes of N1.1 million.”

According to her, the suspect has confessed that the funds were being moved to Gombe State for a politician.

She said that further investigation by the commission was ongoing over the case.

Source: NAN

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The latest arrest, according to ICPC spokesperson, Mrs Azuka Ogugua, followed the continued onslaught by the commission on some elements who had taken advantage of the scarcity of the new Naira notes to swindle unsuspecting Nigerians.

She said the ICPC monitoring team had earlier received a tip-off that the said filling station deliberately disconnected its Point of Sale, POS, services so that motorists could not have access to the Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, using their Automated Teller Machine, ATM, cards.

Upon reaching the petrol station, the team found out that motorists were forced to pay for the product in cash, and those without the new notes were directed to a POS operator directly opposite the filling station to access the cash.

ICPC operatives found out that the POS did not only belong to the accountant of the filling station, but it was charging a very high exorbitant rate as commission against the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

The sum of N1 million was said to have been discovered with the POS operator which the team directed that should be paid into a bank account.

The accountant was arrested alongside the POS operator, and both had been granted administrative bail by the commission.

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