A Federal High Court in Lagos has fixed September 18 for the review of facts in a charge against two staff members of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System over alleged corruption.

The defendants, Shola Onasanya, a Chief Accountant, and Halimat Olalere, a Principal Executive Officer of accounts, are both staff members of the IPPIS Payroll Desk Office at the Federal Medical Centre Ebute Meta, Lagos.

They were dragged before Justice Ibrahim Kala by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission on an amended two counts bordering on diverting the salaries of workers who had exited the FMC. When the case was called on Wednesday, the prosecutor, Mr. Enosa Omoghibo, an Assistant Director of the ICPC, informed the court of a plea bargain agreement by the defendants.

The court, however, informed the prosecutor that permission from the court should be sought first before the amended charge was introduced. Taking a hint from the court, Omoghibo then sought leave of court to substitute the initial charge with the amended charge and to have the amended charge read to the defendants. There was no objection from defence counsel. The defendants pleaded guilty to the charge, respectively.

Following their guilty pleas, the prosecutor moved an application citing the provisions of section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, for the agreement to be entered.

Justice Kala drew the attention of the prosecuting counsel to the provisions of Section 274 of the ACJA, adding that the court cannot safely proceed to convict the defendants without any evidence being adduced before the court.

The court further hinted that, although the defendants had pleaded guilty, their guilty pleas alone, without evidence from the prosecution, cannot safely secure a conviction.

Consequently, the defence counsel applied for an adjournment to enable him to take the necessary steps, and the court adjourned the case until September 18 for a review of the facts.

According to the charge, the defendants were alleged to have committed the offence between January and December 2023 at the FMC in Ebute Meta, Lagos. They were alleged to have converted the proceeds to their personal use, amounting to a total sum of N1.17 million, by failing to take the necessary steps as payroll desk officers to stop the salaries of some staffers who had exited the service.