A mother of five, Ramat Mercy Mba, has been convicted of forging the signature of the late Abba Kyari, the former chief of staff to immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari, for an employment scam.

Justice Ibrahim Mohammad of the Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Gwagwalada, Abuja, handed out the sentence to the mother of five, after finding her guilty of the allegation against her.

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) disclosed this in a press statement on its website on Sunday.

The ICPC had, in June 2022, arraigned Ms Mba on a five-count charge bordering on cheating, fraud, and forgery, contravening section 13 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 200 and sections 320 (b), 366 of the Penal Code Cap 89 laws of Northern Nigeria.

One of the counts read, “That you, Ramat Mercy Mba (F), sometimes in the month of October 2019 or thereabout, in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, fraudulently induced one Mr Ismail Adewole Oladipupo, an unsuspecting job seeker, and collected the sum of seven hundred thousand naira only (N700,000.00) from him, which sum was paid into your private account under the guise of securing employment for him at the National Space Research and Development Agency. (NASDRA), and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 320(b) and punishable under section 322 of the Penal Code Cap 89 Laws of Northern Nigeria.”

The ICPC said the commission’s prosecutor presented evidence before the court on how Ms Mba “dishonestly induced her victims in the guise of securing employment for them with government agencies like the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), the National Space Research Development Agency (NASRDA) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).”

“Furthermore, the documentary evidence tendered shows that the convict fraudulently forged a letterhead paper of the Office of the Chief of Staff to former President Muhammad Buhari, Abba Kyari, and his signature.

“The letter, addressed to the chairman of the ICPC, was a request for the recruitment of three individuals by the Commission. However, the late chief of staff, in a written correspondence that was also tendered in court as an exhibit, distanced himself or his office from authorising the letter,” it revealed.

Giving his judgement, Justice Muhammad convicted her on counts 1, 2, 3, and 5, bordering on cheating and forgery, while she was discharged on count 4, which bordered on felony.

The judge ordered the remand of the convict in Suleja Correctional Centre but deferred her sentencing till Thursday, May 16.