A fake doctor, Martins Ugwu, has been jailed for using his friend, George Daniel Davidson’s, certificate to operate.
A federal capital territory (FCT) high court in Jabi, Abuja, convicted Ugwu for impersonation, thereby, securing a job at the federal ministry of health.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) spokesperson, Demola Bakare, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
According to Bakare, the ICPC said the commission filed a seven-count charge against Ugwu in February 2016.
“Ugwu was charged in court for making a false statement to the federal Civil Service Commission chairman, through which he secured employment in 2006,” he said.
“For 10 years, Ugwu earned N17.2 million in salaries and allowances while falsely presenting himself as a qualified medical doctor.
“The offence contravenes section 25(1)(a) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.”
According to him, Ugwu also used the forged documents to obtain a staff identity card, apply for annual leave, and enroll in a postgraduate programme in epidemiology, which could have earned him a master’s degree.
During the sentencing hearing, Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha, the counsel to the ICPC, urged the court to order Ugwu to return the N17.2 million he fraudulently earned.
The presiding judge, Abubakar Idris Kutigi, condemned Ugwu’s actions and sentenced him to six months imprisonment on each of the seven charges, to run consecutively, totalling three and a half years while ordering him to refund the N17.2 million he had earned illegally.
