Justice Abubakar Idris Kutigi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting at Jabi, Abuja, on Tuesday sentenced a 54-year-old man, Martins Ugwu, who claimed ownership of his best friend’s medical school certificates, with which he got employed in the Federal Ministry of Health, to four years and two months jail term.
The fake doctor Ugwu, who was dragged before the court by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), according to Justice Kutigi, would serve six months on each of the seven-count charges preferred against him.
The anti-corruption commission had in the charge, marked: CR/273/2015, accused Ugwu of using fake documents/certificates to procure a staff identity card, bearing the name of Dr George Daniel Davidson; applied for annual leave as well as a postgraduate training programme which would have conferred on him a Masters degree in the field of Epidemiology Practice.
The convict was also accused of making a false statement to the Chairman of the Federal Civil Service Commission, through which he secured employment in the Federal Ministry of Health, in 2006.
He was further alleged to have unlawfully drawn salaries and allowances up to N17.2 million between 2006 and 2016, after working for about 10 years as a medical doctor at the Federal Ministry of Health with fake documents/certificates.
The judge had on October 3 held that the prosecution, represented by Dr Osuobeni Akponimisingha, proved its case against Ugwu beyond reasonable doubt and subsequently convicted him in absentia and reserved sentencing till such a time ICPC apprehended and produced him in court.
Sentencing the convict today, Justice Kutigi held that the issue of quackery in the medical profession was assuming a troubling dimension in the country, adding that Ugwu’s sentence was necessary to send a signal to those in the habit of claiming what they are not and making a false representation.
He ordered that the convict’s sentences shall run consecutively.
While noting that the convict did not exhibit any remorse in his plea for mercy, the judge said Ugwu rather sought to blame others for his conduct.
He held that even though the convict is a first-time offender with a young family, he (Ugwu) was not remorseful despite the gravity of his offence.
He expressed grave concern that the convict not only used fake certificates to get employment into the Federal Civil Service but also rose to a senior position in the Federal Ministry of Health before his bubble burst.
He added that despite not being qualified to practice as a a medical doctor, Ugwu might have practised as a medical doctor for years and as such might have attended to innocent patients.
Justice Kutigi held that the court took judicial notice of the fact that the convict still has three different criminal cases pending against him in court, one before another judge of the High Court of the FCT, another pending before the Abuja division of the Federal High Court and the third one before a High Court of Ondo State in Akure.
The judge then ordered Ugwu to refund the salaries and allowances he wrongfully earned while he was employed between 2006 and 2016, estimated at N17,024,017. 90.
He held that should the convict fail to repay the money, he should be made to serve an additional one year in jail.
The judge then ordered that the convict, who he noted was brought from a prison in Akure, where he was remanded by an Ondo High Court, be returned to the Ondo State capital to face his ongoing trial there.
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