Certificate scandal: Witness testifies former FIIRO ag. DG, Igwe, never acquired Ph.D

A prosecution witness, Vera Esideme, invited by the investigator of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), on the matter of certificate forgery against a former acting Director-General of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO), Chima Igwe, in her two days presentation at the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos State, revealed that Chima Igwe never acquired Ph.D certificate which he submitted at FIIRO upon which he got accelerated promotions.

The first prosecution witness of ICPC, Esideme, in her two days witness, Monday and Tuesday, narrated that that one late Olusanya was sent to the University in Benin Republic Igwe attended  “to inquire about the certificate and our findings revealed that the defendants completed the coursework in 1999-2002 but however he failed to defend his thesis publicly.

“He did not actually obtain the certificate which he presented to FIIRO in 2002 which he used in getting to a level of a director in FIIRO and which also gave him the privilege of even being an acting DG of FIIRO.”

The prosecution witness during cross-examination maintained that on invitation,  Igwe made statements in defense of the certificate forgery petitions against him.

Esideme highlighted. “When Mr. Igwe came to the commission, he came in the company of a friend of his, and he volunteered statements under caution and this he did on several occasions.

“He volunteered statements about six times – in 2019, he came twice and in 2020 he came about four times to volunteer statements.

“During his first statement, he informed the team that he had applied for approval to proceed for a PhD program at the University of Abomey Calabi.

“Afterwards in 2002, he wrote to FIIRO notifying the organisation of completion of programme and attaching an attestation which was written in French and interpreted into English by one Lawrence.”

The statements were admitted in evidence by the court as exhibits.

The prosecution witness further disclosed that in the investigation process, her team retrieved an extract from the body of FIIRO the minutes (of meeting) held on April 15, 2019.

“In our findings from the minutes, the body (FIIRO) had given the defendant an ultimatum of 30 days to present his certificate which he had failed to do. In that meeting, they discussed his inability to present his certificate,” she said.

Clinton Nwonu, counsel to the defendant, raising objection to the admissibility of the minutes, argued “that it was not signed by the secretary and the names of the attendees were not listed.”

Nwonu objection was countered by the prosecution counsel, Henry Emore, who argued that One Alhaji signed the meeting as the chairman. He insisted that the document was obtained in the course of investigations.

The presiding Judge, Justice Sherifat Solebo, rejected the minutes as she accepted the objection. Solebo held that even though the document was retrieved in the course of the investigation, it does not imply it should not comply with the provisions of the law.

Justice Solebo, thereafter, adjourned proceedings to February 23.

Igwe was arraigned in November 2021 by the ICPC for alleged certificate forgery and he pleaded not guilty.