Ojerinde, ex-JAMB registrar, to be arraigned July 6 over ‘N900m fraud’

Dibu Ojerinde, a former registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), will be arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on July 6 for allegedly misappropriating N900 million.

Obiora Egwuatu, the presiding judge fixed the date on Monday, after Ebenezer Shogunle, counsel to the ICPC, disagreed with the terms of the plea bargain application that P.A.O. Olorunnisola, the defence counsel, had planned to file before the court.

The former JAMB registrar was arrested by the ICPC on March 15 in Abuja on allegations bordering on misappropriation of funds.

The commission alleged that the former registrar committed multiple frauds while heading JAMB and the National Examination Council (NECO).

When the matter was called for arraignment, the defence counsel told the court that arrangements were being made for a plea bargain.

A plea bargain is an arrangement between prosecutor and defendant whereby the defendant pleads guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for a more lenient sentence or an agreement to drop other charges.

But the ICPC counsel, who had already been served with a copy of the process, disagreed with Olorunnisola’s submission, saying the commission was not in agreement with the terms in the application.

Thereafter, the judge held that since the prosecution was not in agreement with the terms put forward by the defence, a written correspondence should be filed to the effect.

The judge then adjourned the matter to July 6 for arraignment.

Ojerinde was the registrar of NECO from 1999 to 2007, before leading JAMB from 2007 to 2016 when President Muhammadu Buhari relieved him of his duties.

In April 2020, the ICPC secured an interim forfeiture of some of his assets which were said to be proceeds of crime.