Court sentences man to two years in prison for forging ICAN certificate

An FCT High Court sitting in Jabi on Friday sentenced Lebi -Ayodele James , a staff of the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation to two years in prison for forging the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria certificate .

The judge, Justice Yusuf Halilu , who did not give the convict an option to pay a fine , ordered him to pay N 100, 000 in restitution .
The Judge said that the convict would have rose to the position of the Auditor General of the Federation with a forged certificate in the nearest future if the forgery had not been discovered .

According to Halilu, the sentence will serve as a lesson to the convict and others who procure fake certificates and those who might intend to engage in such act in the future .

“ The convict knew full well that he never had ICAN certificate . He forged the certificate and eventually got elevated from Executive officer to a Senior Auditor .

“ In a country where securing government employment is a huge challenge , and with the army of graduates who have truly earned better certificate but remained unemployed .
“ Government should scrutinise all employees in her pay role to ensure only those who deserve to be gainfully employed are employed .
“ The convict shall serve his term in Keffi Prison, ” Halilu ordered .

James was arraigned on three count offences by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on March 26.

The offences are: Forgery of certificate contrary to section 25( 1 )(a ) and punishable under section 25 (1 )(b) of the ICPC Act 2000 and being in possession of a forged document contrary to section 368 of the Penal code CAP 532 , Laws of the FCT Nigeria 2006 .

He was also charged with giving false information, an offence contrary and punishable under section 140 of the penal code CAP 53, Laws of the FCT Nigeria 2006 .

The prosecution, Mr Agbili Ezenwa , in March , presented the forged certificate and the application letter to the Director of Admin and Human Resources in the auditor general ’ s office as evidence.
Ezenwa said that the convict wrote the application letter requesting to be converted and upgraded from the position of an Executive officer to that of a Senior Auditor .

(NAN )