Ojerinde: ICPC rejects Federal High Court ruling, set to appeal

By Joel Oladele, Abuja

The Independent Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has expressed its dissatisfaction with the ruling of the Federal High Court, Abuja on the civil rights claim filed by the former Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board(JAMB), Prof. Dibu Ojerinde.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by the spokesperson of the commission, Mrs. Azuka Ogugua on Wednesday.

Recall that Ojerinde, in the suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/179/2023 filed before Justice Egwuatu, had sought an order to enforce his fundamental rights, following his re-arrest on January 26 within the court premises and his subsequent detention.

The applicant sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the anti-graft agency and its officers from arresting or detaining him on account of the suit for which he was facing a criminal charge or to file an amended charge.

Consequently, the court fined the Commission N1 million damages and cost of N200,000 respectively for the arrest and detention of the ex-JAMB registrar over alleged corrupt practices.

Azuka, however, said the commission intends to appeal the ruling of the court, claiming it had a valid warrant issued by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court dated 6th December 2022.

“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 retains the resources and influence to evade justice.

“The Commission remains undaunted and will continue to discharge its responsibilities with diligence and professionalism.” She said.