The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos Zonal Command, has arraigned an Indian national, Chandra Prakash Singh, before Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos on a seven-count charge bordering on stealing over $200,000. He pleaded not guilty to the offence.
The prosecution counsel, B.B. Bala, asked for the defendant’s remand and a date for trial after he entered his plea. However, counsel to the defendant, Efe Solomon Izokor, appealed to the court for an oral application for bail.
Bala objected to the submission made by the defence, insisting that “a written bail application be brought before the court” to enable her to respond accordingly.
Justice Oweibo remanded the defendant in a correctional facility and adjourned the matter till June 27, 2023, for the commencement of the trial.
EXPOSED: Bawa ‘Under Pressure’ As 6 Senior EFCC Staff Caught In Age Falsification
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is presently enmeshed in a ‘nauseating’ scandal involving its senior officers over age falsification.
PRNigeria gathered that six senior staff of the commission who falsified their age records (dates of birth) have been detected, during a promotion interview for senior EFCC operatives.
It is reliably gathered that Abdulrasheed Bawa, Chairman of EFCC, is under pressure to give the accused officers a ‘soft-landing’.
A credible source told PRNigeria that the EFCC staff who allegedly falsified their ages were trying to confer an ‘unfair advantage’ to themselves over their colleagues, who also participated in the interview exercise.
“The offence of the six senior officers bordered on forgery and conferring unfair advantage to themselves.
“And they did so by altering their dates of birth in their personal files,” the source said.
According to the source, who asked not to be named, the identified senior operatives of the Commission involved in the age racketeering scandal, were hoping that they would get their years in the service extended, beyond their retirement ages.
Checks by PRNigeria indicate that some senior EFCC officers who were discovered to have altered their birth records in the past were punished with demotions to lower levels or outright retirement from the service.
According to EFCC law, any person involved in forgery shall be sanctioned and prosecuted for falsifying/altering official records for personal gain or any other offence.
Another top management staff of the EFCC, while speaking to PRNigeria on the recent scandal, said: “Our Chairman, Mr. Bawa is more concerned about protecting the integrity of our Commission and its staff and he will surely be in a dilemma if such allegations are established against some of our best staff.
“This is because some of the accused senior officers are very good at their job and they did not forge certificates of qualifications and experience. In addition, the so-called age falsification is yet to be established against any one of them as they are still very innocent.”
Source: ChannelsTV
