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, following his prosecution by the ICPC on a two-count charge bordering on knowingly furnishing false statements in the discharge of his official duties.
According to a press statement issued on Thursday by the Commission’s Head of Media and Public Communications, J. Okor Odey, the former official issued a Stock Verification Certificate of Completion in favour of Mubaraq Pharmacy Limited in May 2015, falsely certifying that pharmaceutical products had been supplied when they had yet to arrive in Nigeria.
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 had not been supplied at the time Oluwole certified their receipt, thereby creating the false impression that the contractor had fulfilled its contractual obligations and was entitled to payment.
Count One of the charge accused Oluwole of knowingly furnishing a false statement in his official capacity, 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.
Delivering judgment, Justice Halilu sentenced Oluwole to seven years’ imprisonment on Count One and imposed a fine of ₦100,000 on Count Two. The judge also directed that he serve his prison term at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja.
The ICPC prosecuted the case through its counsel, N. J. Onwuka, who appeared alongside P. N. Emeka, while the defendant was represented by Abubakar Adamu.
The Commission said the conviction underscores the criminal consequences of falsifying official records and certification documents in public procurement, particularly where such actions facilitate payments for undelivered goods and undermine accountability in the management of public funds.
