Ondo lecturer, union leader arraigned over alleged result forgery

By Boye Oyeyemi

The Ondo State Public Complaints, Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption Commission has arraigned two employees of Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, over alleged involvement in the forgery of a student’s examination result.

The defendants, Segun Olowoyo, a lecturer in the institution’s Language Department, and Saka Olokungboye, a non-academic staff member and chairman of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics in the school, were brought before an Akure Magistrate’s Court on charges bordering on conspiracy and forgery.

According to the prosecutor, Afolabi Ahmed, the suspects allegedly conspired with another person who is currently at large to alter the 2022/2023 second-semester result of a National Diploma II spillover student in the Department of Public Administration, Iremide Fadimiluyi.

Ahmed told the court that the alleged offences were committed in February 2023 within the Owo Magisterial District and contravened relevant provisions of the Criminal Code Laws of Ondo State.

The two defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges, while the prosecution informed the court of its intention to call three witnesses to prove its case.

In his ruling, Magistrate O.T. Lebi granted Olowoyo bail in the sum of one million naira with one surety in like sum, while Olokungboye was admitted to bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties. The court directed that at least one surety must be a staff member of the institution.

The magistrate subsequently adjourned the case till July 2026 for hearing.

Meanwhile, the commission said its investigation uncovered evidence that Olowoyo allegedly awarded grades in a Communication in English course to students who did not participate in the examination, with Olokungboye said to have played a supporting role in the alleged misconduct. The agency added that the prosecution forms part of efforts to strengthen accountability and integrity within public tertiary institutions in the state.