The Kwara State High Court in Ilorin has convicted a former local government chairman in the state of making false statement to an investigator.
Alhassan Bagudu, who had served as the chairman of the Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, was convicted and jailed one year imprisonment but with an option of N100,000 fine.
The judge, M. AbdulGarfa, found him guilty on a charge of making false statement to an investigator of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
ICPC spokesperson, Azuka Ogugwa, who disclosed this in a statement, on Thursday, said Mr Bagudu had pleaded not guilty when he was first arraigned.
However, during the trial, ICPC’s prosecuting lawyers, Peace Arocha and Golden Iwuagwu, led evidence in support of the allegation that the former local government chairman had purchased a used ‘Toyota Prado Jeep’ for N13 million whereas the approval was for a brand new car.
The court also heard how Mr Bagudu claimed that the jeep was purchased by Quadrish Motors while knowing same to be false thereby making false statement to a constituted authority.
One of the charges reads: ”That you Alhassan Yahaya Bagudu (M) sometime in April 2018 or thereabout at Ilorin, Kwara State did knowingly made false statement to Adamu Lere Murtala, an investigating officer of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission in the exercise of his duties as an investigator when you asserted that the Toyota Prado jeep that was bought for your office as the Chairman of Kaiama Local Government was supplied by Quadrish Motors when in actual fact the Toyota Prado jeep was not supplied by Quadrish Motors……”
The offence was said to contravene section 25 (1) (b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and punishable under the same section.
