The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has arraigned a former Provost of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba, Dr. Ignatius Ezoem and some principal officers over alleged corrupt enrichment and misapplication of funds.

Other principal officers arraigned at the Federal High Court Asaba, Delta State are Director of Works, Chukwuka Jonas Ifechukwude and the Register, Ogbechie Linus.

Ogbechie was arraigned for conspiring with the former provost to employ his (Ezeom) unqualified relation, thereby committing an offence contrary to section 26 (1) (c) and punishable under section 19 of the ICPC Act 2000.

Ezeom and Ifechukwude were arraigned for confering unfair advantage on Moropol Construction Limited by approving payment of N33.8m, representing 50 per cent of the contract sum in February 2013, but the contract was not executed.

“That you Ezoem Nwanze Ignatius and Ugbechie Linus in February 2013 as Provost and Register, Federal College of Education conspired to confer corrupt advantage on Egbulem John Paul Nkenna, a relation of Ezoem’s wife by employment when he did not qualify for a job public service,” the charge reads.

MEANWHILE, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), has paraded two employees for extorting money from Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) candidates with the promise to help them secure admission.

The employees, Andy Okoro, a level-12 officer in the Delta State JAMB office, said he collected N500, 000 from parents of four candidates and paid N180, 000 to a colleague, Gambo Ibrahim Abba, to help facilitate their admission.

But trouble started when one of the parents petitioned JAMB on Okoro’s activities, prompting the Board to commence investigation of the issue.

Okoro told newsmen in Abuja that he engaged in the fraudulent act due to economic hardship, but Gambo, a level-8 officer at JAMB headquarters said Okoro might have hypnotised him to engage in the fraudulent act, adding that he only got to know him through telephone last year from a third party, who introduced them.

Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, who expressed surprise that the employees defied the Board’s zero tolerance for corruption, vowed to ensure that they were prosecuted.

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