The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has arraigned an Assistant Superintendent of Immigration with the Nigerian Immigration Service, Abubakar Aseku for allegedly receiving salaries from two additional government agencies while still employed by the NIS.

Aseku was brought before Justice Binta Dogonyaro of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Apo, Abuja, on Tuesday, facing a nine-count charge bordering on abuse of office and corruption.

In a statement on Wednesday, by the ICPC’s spokesman, Demola Bakare, the NIS officer allegedly received N4.2m in salaries from the Nasarawa State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in 2015 while serving as a school teacher despite being an active officer of the NIS.

Bakare also said Aseku was accused of illegally drawing N13.4m in salaries from the Department of Petroleum Resources between 2018 and 2019 while still under the employment of the Immigration Service.

Bakare added that as a Pay Officer with the NIS, Aseku allegedly facilitated the payment of N4.7m in salaries to seven individuals who were neither employees of the NIS nor on its payroll.

One of the charges contained in the statement read in part, “That you, Abubakar Mohammed Aseku, between October 2018 and October 2019, in Abuja, while serving as an Assistant Superintendent Immigration Officer, used your position to confer corrupt advantage upon yourself by receiving a total sum of N13,400,889.90 in salaries from the Department of Petroleum Resources, while concurrently employed by the Nigerian Immigration Service, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.”

Bakare said Aseku pleaded not guilty to all charges.

He said his counsel, Basil Hemba, urged the court to uphold the bail conditions previously granted by another FCT High Court in Maitama.

Bakare said Justice Dogonyaro agreed to maintain the existing bail terms and adjourned the case to April 29, 2025, for further hearing.

The Nigerian Correctional Service, on Wednesday, said that the number of prisoners on death row had risen from 3,590 in September 2024 to 3,688 in March 2025.

This represents a 2.73 per cent increase or addition of 98 prisoners within six months.

The Acting Controller-General of NCoS, Mr Sylvester Nwakuche, gave the figure when he appeared for screening before the Senate Committee on Interior, chaired by Sen. Adams Oshiomhole.

The NCoS also sought strategic collaboration with the Nigeria Police, Department of State Services; Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to speed up the wheel of justice in the country.

Nwakuche said that the major challenge facing the correctional service in the country was that of inmates currently awaiting trials.

“That is our major headache we are trying to address on a daily basis,” he said.

The acting comptroller-general pledged to collaborate with other security agencies more strategically to ensure that the issues of awaiting trial inmates were permanently resolved to decongest the country’s prisons.

“This is very important for any establishment to forge ahead. An establishment like correctional centres cannot do anything without collaboration.

“We are the recipient of the products of all the prosecuting agencies,” the acting comptroller-general said.

In his remarks, Chairman, Senate Committee on Interior, Sen. Adams Oshiomhole, said the committee would submit its report based on the performance of the Acting Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service

NAN

The Rivers State House of Assembly has faulted claims by Governor Siminalayi Fubara that he was blocked from entering the House to re-present the state 2025 Appropriation Bill.

The House said it never received any official communication from the governor indicating his interest in bringing the budget to the floor of the House, accusing him of whipping up unnecessary sentiments.

The spokesperson for the House and Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Dr Enemi George, stated this in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

George said the claims of the governor were a mere comedy skit scripted to paint the House in bad light.

He recalled that on March 3, the House had written to the governor requesting him to bring his 2025 appropriation bill to the lawmakers following the judgment of the Supreme Court.

He said, “We were the ones, who immediately after that judgment appealed to the governor to bring his appropriation bill. We acted immediately because we had the interest of the state at heart and didn’t want Rivers people to suffer any harm.

“Despite withholding our entitlements for over a year and demolishing our chambers, we still wanted him to hasten up the presentation in the interest of the progress of Rivers.

“We indicated our intentions in that letter and even gave him a timeframe because of the urgency of the matter. To regularise his appointments, we also urged him during our subsequent sitting to submit the names of his nominees for the positions of commissioners and some boards’ membership for screening and confirmation.”

George added, “But the governor rebuffed our pleas. We sent employees of the Assembly to deliver these resolutions to him but as usual, they turned them down at the gate and even brutalised them. We resorted to engaging the services of a courier company.

“He still did not heed our call forgetting that there are essential services like hospitals, schools and others to be funded. Our intention was to finish everything about the budget on March 15th so that we could send necessary information and documents to relevant agencies of the government to allow the release of Rivers allocations at the end of March.

“But with what he is doing, we dont know what he wants to achieve. How can he turn around to claim that we blocked him from re-presenting his budget?

“This is the height of insincerity. We even need the budget to be passed because the governor has been owing us our entitlements for more than a year and without the budget, we can’t get our entitlements.

“The governor and his team simply and deliberately acted Wednesday’s drama with a singular motive to tarnish the image of the Assembly. The governor is simply playing to the gallery to whip up unnecessary sentiments. But it has backfired because the truth has come out.”

The House spokesman insisted that the letter the governor claimed to have sent to the Speaker never got to him, saying it was after Wednesday’s sitting that the lawmakers saw the letter trending on social media.

He added, “But even the letter trending on social media was dated March 11. Does it mean that the governor purportedly sent a letter on Tuesday—God knows when—and immediately mobilised to the assembly quarters on Wednesday morning, claiming he came to present his budget?

“That alone vitiates the claimed purpose. It is procedurally trite that after writing to the Assembly, the governor ought to wait for the letter to be acknowledged by the lawmakers, who will then invite him to appear before them and make his presentation. Governor Fubara ought to know this if he is sincere.

“But all we know is that this Assembly will continue to uphold the rule of law and will remain committed to promoting the interests of Rivers State.

“We urge him to do the needful so that Rivers people can breathe. He is toying with the lives and livelihood of Rivers people.”