The Federal Capital Territory Excessive Court docket has dismissed a case searching for to restrain the Impartial Corrupt Practices and Different Associated Offences Fee’s (ICPC) investigation of the Kano State Ministry of Larger Schooling and the Kano State Scholarship Board’s funds over alleged monetary impropriety.
Justice Josephine Obanor handed the judgment, dismissing makes an attempt to restrain the Fee from finishing up its statutory mandate of investigation, the ICPC assertion reads.
The matter is alleged to have arisen from a petition obtained by the Fee alleging monetary impropriety within the administration of Scholarship Funds in Kano State.
What Transpired in Court docket
In line with the ICPC assertion, throughout its investigation, ICPC invited officers from the Kano State Ministry of Larger Schooling and the Kano State Scholarship Board to supply paperwork and clarifications relating to allegations contained within the petition.
- Nonetheless, slightly than comply, the candidates, led by the Everlasting Secretary of the Kano State Ministry of Larger Schooling, Dr. Hadi Bala, filed a swimsuit marked CV/2857/2025 in opposition to the Lawyer-Basic of the Federation and ICPC.
- The official alleged that such invites by the ICPC violated their basic rights. That line of submission was countered by the ICPC authorized group.
What the Choose Stated
Delivering judgment on the case, Justice Obanor dominated that the officers of the Kano State Scholarship Board be correctly joined as events within the swimsuit and that the Lawyer-Basic of the Federation be struck out as a celebration, as his joinder was pointless.
The decide held that “an invite letter from ICPC for investigation functions doesn’t represent a breach of basic rights.”
- The court docket, agreeing with the ICPC, held that the candidates failed to indicate any violation of their rights.
- The decide reaffirmed that ICPC can’t be restrained from performing its lawful responsibility of investigation. Consequently, the swimsuit was dismissed for missing advantage.
Reacting to the event, the ICPC careworn that the ruling reinforces the Fee’s authority to analyze circumstances of alleged corruption and monetary misconduct in keeping with its statutory mandate.
- The ICPC reiterated its dedication to transparency, accountability, and justice in Nigeria’s public sector, assuring Nigerians that due course of and the rule of legislation will proceed to information its operations.
Extra Insights
The event comes months after the ICPC chairman, Dr. Musa Aliyu, disclosed that the company recognized and arrested people liable for manipulating the payroll system, together with one case the place a authorities employee added his members of the family to the system.
“Now we have been capable of observe and get well this amount of cash, and now we have additionally recognized people who find themselves inserting ghost employees within the system. We even found that anyone had put his spouse, his son, and his in-laws on the payroll,” he stated.
In line with him, the company recovered over N20 billion in pension deductions from salaries allotted to ghost employees in 2024.