Nigeria’s Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), has secured a seven-year prison sentence for a former Federal Ministry of Health official who falsely certified the delivery of pharmaceutical products, facilitating a payment of nearly ₦30 million in Abuja.
The former Principal Stock Verifier, Williams Oluwole, was convicted by Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja.
The court found him guilty of issuing a false stock verification certificate for pharmaceutical products that had not arrived in Nigeria when he certified their delivery.
The ICPC prosecuted Oluwole on a two-count charge involving knowingly furnishing false statements in the discharge of his official duties.
The case centred on a Stock Verification Certificate of Completion, number CA 0329, which Oluwole issued in favour of Mubaraq Pharmacy Limited in May 2015.
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The certificate facilitated the payment of ₦29,996,120 to the company for the purported supply of 5,113 Ribavirin injections and 5,681 Globavirin tablets.
During the trial, the prosecution established that the products had not been supplied when Oluwole certified their receipt.
The court held that the certificate falsely represented that the company had fulfilled its contractual obligations and qualified for payment.
In Count One of Charge No. CR/94/2017, the ICPC accused Oluwole of knowingly issuing the false certificate in his official capacity, enabling payment for the undelivered pharmaceutical products.
The offence contravenes Section 16 of Nigeria’s Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
The second count concerned a false statement made to the then Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, Linus Awute. The charge was brought under Section 25(1)(a) of the same Act.
The ICPC prosecuted the case through its counsel, N. J. Onwuka, who appeared alongside P. N. Emeka. Oluwole was represented by defence counsel Abubakar Adamu.
Delivering judgment, Justice Halilu sentenced Oluwole to seven years’ imprisonment on Count One. The court also imposed a fine of ₦100,000 on Count Two.
The judge directed that Oluwole serve his prison sentence at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja.
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