A Federal High Court in Lagos, on Wednesday, fixed September 18 for the review of facts in a charge against two staff members of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) over alleged corruption.
The defendants, Shola Onasanya, a Chief Accountant and Halimat Olalere, a Principal Executive Officer of accounts, are both staff members of the IPPIS Payroll Desk Office at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Ebute Meta, Lagos.
They were dragged before Justice Ibrahim Kala by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) on an amended two-count charge bordering on diverting the salaries of workers who had exited the FMC.
When the case was called on Wednesday, the prosecutor, Mr Enosa Omoghibo, an Assistant Director of the ICPC, informed the court of a plea bargain agreement by the defendants.
He told the court that, following the plea bargain agreement filed on September 4, the prosecution had consequently filed an amended charge and applied that it be read to the defendants.
The court, however, informed the prosecutor that permission from the court should be sought first before the amended charge was introduced.
Taking a hint from the court, Omoghibo then sought leave of court to substitute the initial charge with the amended charge and to have the amended charge read to the defendants.
There was no objection from defence counsel.
The defendants pleaded guilty to the charge, respectively.
Following their guilty pleas, the prosecutor moved an application citing the provisions of section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, for the agreement to be entered.
He prayed that the court enter the terms of the plea bargain agreement, which was supported by a statement of facts and a verifying affidavit, as judgment in the case.
Again, Justice Kala drew the attention of the prosecuting counsel to the provisions of Section 274 of the ACJA, adding that the court cannot safely proceed to convict the defendants without any evidence being adduced before the court.
The court further hinted that, although the defendants had pleaded guilty, their guilty pleas alone, without evidence from the prosecution, cannot safely secure a conviction.
Kala held that the prosecution still had the burden of proof to discharge, adding that the guilty pleas by the defendants had only lightened this burden.
Consequently, the defence counsel applied for an adjournment to enable him to take the necessary steps, and the court adjourned the case until September 18 for a review of the facts.
According to the charge, the defendants were alleged to have committed the offence between January and December 2023 at the FMC in Ebute Meta, Lagos.
They were alleged to have converted the proceeds to their personal use, amounting to a total sum of N1.17 million, by failing to take the necessary steps as payroll desk officers to stop the salaries of some staffers who had exited the service.
The prosecution informed the court that the defendants had substituted the account of Olalere (the second defendant), into which the salaries of the former staffers were continuously paid.
The first defendant (Onasanya) was said to have directed Olalere to transfer the said salaries of the former workers received into his own account.
According to the prosecutor, the second defendant aided the first defendant in converting the total sum of N1.17 million, which was the proceeds of corruption, to his personal use.
The offence contravenes the provisions of Section 18(2)(d) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act 2022.
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