Odita Sunday 
ICPC Secures Seven-Year Jail Term for Ex-Health Ministry Official Over ₦29.9m Fraud
By Odita Sunday
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has secured a seven-year jail term for a former Principal Stock Verifier at the Federal Ministry of Health, Williams Oluwole, for issuing a false stock verification certificate that facilitated the payment of ₦29.9 million for pharmaceutical products that had not been supplied.
Oluwole was convicted on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, by Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Maitama, Abuja, after the commission prosecuted him on a two-count charge bordering on the alleged furnishing of false statements in the discharge of his official duties.
The court also fined him ₦100,000 on the second count and ordered that he serve his prison sentence at the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja.
According to the ICPC, Oluwole issued a Stock Verification Certificate of Completion in favour of Mubaraq Pharmacy Limited in May 2015, falsely certifying that certain pharmaceutical products had been supplied when they had yet to arrive in Nigeria.
During the trial, the prosecution established that the certificate, numbered CA 0329, facilitated the payment of ₦29,996,120 to the company for the purported supply of 5,113 Ribavirin injections and 5,681 Globavirin tablets.
The court held that the products covered by the certificate had not been supplied when Oluwole certified their receipt, thereby creating the false impression that the contractor had fulfilled its contractual obligations and was entitled to payment.
In Count One of Charge No. CR/94/2017, the commission accused Oluwole of knowingly furnishing a false statement in his capacity as Principal Stock Verifier by issuing the certificate that facilitated payment for the undelivered pharmaceutical products.
The offence was contrary to Section 16 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
The second count bordered on making a false statement to the then Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, Linus Awute, contrary to Section 25(1)(a) of the same Act.
The ICPC prosecuted the case through its counsel, N. J. Onwuka, who appeared alongside P. N. Emeka, while Oluwole was represented by Abubakar Adamu.
Delivering judgment, Justice Halilu found Oluwole guilty and sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment on Count One, in addition to the ₦100,000 fine imposed on Count Two.
The conviction highlights the criminal consequences of falsifying official records and certification documents in public procurement, particularly where such documents are used to facilitate payments for goods that have not been delivered.
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