A former registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, was charged by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, or ICPC, on Friday with charges of money laundering totaling N5 billion.
He appeared in court before Judge Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja with his three sons, Olumide Abiodun Ojerinde, Adedayo Ojerinde, and Oluwaseun Adeniyi Ojerinde, as well as his daughter-in-law, Mary Funmilola Ojerinde.
Ojerinde’s businesses, on the other hand, were not spared and are currently being charged with N5 billion in money laundering. Doyin Ogbohi Petroleum Ltd, Cheng Marbles Ltd, Sapati International Schools Ltd, Trillium Learnings Centre Ltd, and Standout Institutes Ltd are some of the businesses.
Ojerinde was charged by the ICPC with 18 counts of alleged theft of money totaling N5.2 billion on July 6, 2021, in a case with the filing number FHC/ABJ/CR/97/2021 before Judge Obiora Egwuatu.
The former registrar was accused by the Commission of engaging in many scams while serving as the National Examination Council and JAMB’s executive director (NECO).
He was alleged to have opened account No. 1002833087 in the name of JAMB/J.O. Olabisi and transferred a total of N2,769,083,044.04 into it using his position as Registrar of JAMB to corruptly benefit one Jimoh Olabisi Olatunde, a public official (Two Billion, Seven Hundred and Sixty-Nine Million, Eighty Three Thousand, Four Hundred and Forty-Six Naira, Four Kobo).
He was later detained again by ICPC agents on January 26, 2023, at the Abuja headquarters of a Federal High Court, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on bail for N200 million.
The former JAMB boss, his three sons, and daughter-in-law were all named in a new charge with the filing number FHC/ABJ/CR/119/23.
Due to the ICPC’s failure to deliver court documents and the absence of other defendants in court, today’s resumed hearings saw Ojerinde and other defendants’ re-arraignment delayed.
Under a revised fraud-related accusation brought by the ICPC, Ojerinde and 10 other defendants were expected to enter a plea. But, Henry Emore, the attorney for the anti-graft agency, informed the court that he had not yet served court papers to the eighth through twelfth defendants in the case.
According to the new information, Judge Ekwo ruled that the ICPC must properly serve each defendant before an arraignment can take place.
You have until April 19 to enter a plea, the trial judge remarked. The defendants will face consequences if they don’t appear in court.
