Professor Adedibu Ojerinde, the former Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), who is on trial in Abuja for an alleged N5 billion fraud, has agreed to a plea bargain with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
At the Federal High Court in Abuja, where his trial was supposed to begin, Ojerinde begged with the trial judge, Justice Obiora Egwuatu, to allow him 24 hours to resolve his case with the ICPC through a plea bargain rather than a formal trial.
His new lead counsel, Ibrahim Ishyaku, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), informed the court that his client wanted to resolve the case through an out-of-court settlement known as a plea bargain.
If the situation could not be settled after 24 hours, the senior counsel told the judge that the trial would begin.
"My Lord, our request is that we be granted 24 hours to examine the potential of a plea bargain to end this matter, and that the trial be adjourned for the time necessary for us to come up with our settlement terms."
Mr Ebenezer Sogunle, an ICPC lawyer, did not oppose to the request but warned that the trial would go ahead if the plea deal fell through.
On July 8, 2021, the ICPC arrested the former JAMB Registrar on an 18-count charge of misappropriation of public funds totaling over N900 million.
He is believed to have committed the crime while serving as the Registrar of the National Examination Council (NECO) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Ojerinde, on the other hand, pled not guilty to all allegations and was later granted N200 million bail.
Meanwhile, Justice Egwuatu has set February 9 as the date for the presentation of the plea bargain report.