TheCable

Dibu Ojerinde, former registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), and his four children are facing fresh fraud charges.

Ojerinde was scheduled to appear before the federal high court in Abuja on Friday alongside his four children — Mary Funmilola, Olumide Abiodun, Adedayo, and Oluwaseun Adeniyi.

The arraignment was however stalled over the absence of his children in court.

BACKGROUND

The former JAMB registrar has been on the radar of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) since 2020.

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

In March 2021, he was arrested by the ICPC for allegedly misappropriating N900 million.

On July 6, 2021, he was in court on an 18-count charge bordering on alleged misappropriation of funds to the tune of N5.2 billion while in office.

On January 2023, Ojerinde was re-arrested by the ICPC in Abuja at the premises of a federal high court.

The agency said it uncovered two accounts opened in the names of Trillium Learning Centre Ltd and Sapati International Schools Ltd, into which funds were diverted using fictitious names of students.

FRESH SUIT

In the fresh suit by the ICPC, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/119/23, Ojerinde, his four children, as well as his companies, were indicted.

The companies include Doyin Ogbohi Petroleum Ltd, Cheng Marbles Ltd, Sapati International Schools Ltd, Trillium Learnings Centre Ltd, and Standout Institutes Ltd.

They were to be arraigned on a 17-count charge bordering on money laundering.

The latest arraignment followed fresh findings by the anti-graft commission.

NAN reports that they did not appear in court on Friday but were represented by Ajibola Bello, their lawyer.

During the court session, Henry Emore, the ICPC counsel, lamented that the defendants were not in court.

In his ruling, Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, directed Emore to serve their lawyer in open court since he was present.

“I grant you a leave to serve them now through their counsel. Let the court record shows that this is by leave of court,” he said.

“When a lawyer is representing defendants in court, it means that the lawyer knows the contact of the defendants and can reach them.”

Ekwo adjourned the matter until April 19 and warned “there shall be consequences if the defendants are not in court in the next adjourned date”.