An Oyo State High Court presided over by Justice Mashood Abass has sentenced the Provost and Bursar of the Federal Cooperative College, Eleyele, Ibadan, Mrs. Ruth Adehwe Aweto and Mr. Adekanye Komolafe respectively, to four years imprisonment without any option of fine, after having found the duo guilty of corrupt practices levied against them by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The trial judge sentenced the duo to one year imprisonment on each of the four count charges, and the sentence is to run concurrently.
Justice Abass, while delivering judgment in the matter, said the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt that the two accused persons, being the principal officers of the college “betrayed the trust reposed on them by the Federal Government by using their positions to defraud the money put under their custody for smooth administration of the college.”
He said from all the available evidences before the court, including the statements and evidences of the two accused that the college employed 41 casual workers whose total entitlement was supposed to be N3,690,000 for the year 2006 but which the accused persons unilaterally jacked up on paper to a total of N7,041,861.15k.
Justice Abass also said the accused persons admitted that they did not return the balance of N3,351,851,15k of the money to the coffers of the Federal Government in 2006, instead they claimed that they used the balance to off-set the outstanding salary of 2004 to the workers.
Justice Abass submitted that the two accused persons throughout the trial failed to show any documents or failed to call superior officer from the Federal Government that gave them authority to convert the balance of the N3.3 million of 2006 budget which they collected from the government.