Justice Mojisola Dada of an Ikeja High Court has sentenced a former official in the Auditor General’s office, Mr Charles Aiyeyi, to a year imprisonment for charges bordering on conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and making false statement to a public officer with intent to pervert the course of justice.
Aiyeyi, 66, alongside one Friday Itsede, were arraigned by the EFCC before Justice Mojisola Dada of a Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos on a two-count charge for their involvement in the stalling of the trial of one Jerome Itepu, Chief Executive Officer of Omo-Jay Nigeria Limited.
One of the counts reads: “Charles Aiyeyi, Friday Itsede and Jerome Itepu (at large) on or about 21st December, 2018 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of the Honourable Court conspired amongst yourselves to pervert the course of justice by giving Mr. Callistus Egwuonwu, a staff of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, employed in the public service with the intention of causing Jerome Itepu to be released on bail pursuant to which he absconded.”
They pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.
In the course of the trial, the prosecution witness, Callistus Egwuonwu, testified that sometime in 2015, the EFCC received a petition against some persons which included Jerome Itepu.
He told the court that in the course of investigation, Itepu was in 2018 invited for interrogation, which he honoured and he made statement, following which he was granted administrative bail.
In fulfilling the bail condition, the suspected fraudster provided the two defendants who stood as sureties for him. Aiyeyi had produced a letter of introduction from the Office of the Auditor General in which he was introduced as a staff of the Office. The second defendant told investigators that the suspect was a “blood relation” and that he could produce him anytime. They both signed a bond of N18 million each.
Thereafter, the suspect was released to the defendants, but he jumped bail, became incommunicado, while the defendants failed, despite promises and assurances, to produce him.
Subsequently, the EFCC arrested the defendants and charged them in court for perverting the course of justice. Though charges had been drawn against the suspected fraudster, he could not be arraigned in court as he remained in hiding and the defendants failed to produce him.
It was later discovered that at the time the first defendant introduced himself to the EFCC as a staff of the Office of the Auditor General, when he had in fact at the time retired from active service.
In the course of the trial, the defendants also filed a no-case submission which was dismissed by the Court.
Delivering judgement, Justice Dada discharged and acquitted the second defendant holding that as argued by the defence, Exhibit P3 which was the bail condition, required only one surety, a level 14 civil servant, which in the instance was Aiyeyi.
The Judge, thereafter, held that the prosecution successfully proved the charges against the first defendant and so sentenced him to one year in prison. Following the allocutus, however, he was given an option of fine of N1 million.
