A former Federal Ministry of Health official, Williams Oluwole, has been sentenced to seven years in prison for issuing a false stock verification certificate that facilitated payment for medicines that had not been supplied.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, said the certificate enabled a payment of nearly thirty million naira to a pharmaceutical company.
Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, convicted Oluwole on Tuesday, October 20.
The former Principal Stock Verifier faced two counts relating to false statements made in the course of his official duties.
According to the ICPC, Oluwole issued a Stock Verification Certificate of Completion in favour of Mubaraq Pharmacy Limited in May 2015.
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The certificate stated that pharmaceutical products had been supplied, although the items had yet to arrive in Nigeria.
The commission said the document facilitated payment of 29,996,120 naira for 5,113 Ribavirin injections and 5,681 Globavirin tablets.
The court found that Oluwole had falsely certified receipt of the medicines, creating the impression that the contractor had fulfilled its obligations and was entitled to payment.
The first count concerned knowingly furnishing a false statement under Section 16 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
The second concerned a false statement made to the ministry’s then Permanent Secretary, Linus Awute, under Section 25(1)(a) of the same Act.
Justice Halilu sentenced Oluwole to seven years’ imprisonment on the first count and imposed a fine of one hundred thousand naira on the second.
The judge directed that he serve the prison sentence at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja.
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(Editor: Ada Ononye)
