The defence and the prosecution teams involved in the N5.2 billion fraud trial of a former Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Dibu Ojerinde, skipped proceedings at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday.
Mr Ojerinde, a professor, too, was absent from the hearing.
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With neither the defendant nor the lawyers to the parties present, there was no update on the status of the settlement discussions they had said resumed more than six months ago.
The acclaimed settlement talks have stalled the trial, which has reached an advanced stage, since the parties informed the judge of the behind-the-scenes discussions in July last year.
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When the matter was called before trial judge Obiora Egwatu on Wednesday, no lawyer from the prosecuting agency, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the defence team was present to announce appearance.
Mr Ojerinde too was not seen in court.
Consequently, Mr Egwuatu adjourned the matter until 25 March for a report on any settlement or to resume the trial. He also directed that hearing notices be served on all parties in the case.
Mr Ojerinde and ICPC informed the court at the 16 July 2025 proceedings of their resumed settlement talks.
The disclosure came just weeks after the trial judge ordered Mr Ojerinde to open his defence and two and a half years after the first settlement talks failed.
Defence lawyer Eteya Ogana told the trial judge at the said proceedings that the defence was meant to open its case, but for the need to give the settlement talks a chance.
Lesie Iheduru, who appeared for the prosecution, confirmed the development and did not oppose the request for adjournment.
But since then, the case has stalled.
Backstory
Mr Ojerinde, a professor, served as registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO) from 1999 to 2007, before he became the JAMB registrar, a position he held between 2007 and 2016.
In July 2021, ICPC charged him with 18 counts of diverting N5.2 billion in public funds, abuse of office, and conferring corrupt advantages on himself while heading both examination bodies.
He previously made an unsuccessful attempt to settle the matter out of court.
The earlier settlement moves broke down in February 2022, paving the way for the ICPC to call its first prosecution witness after some wait to see the negotiation through.
After ICPC finished presenting its case, calling all its prosecution witnesses and tendering documentary evidence, Mr Ojerinde filed a no-case submission to ask the court to dismiss the charges on the grounds that the commission failed to prove any case against him.
The judge dismissed the no-case submission last month, insisting that he had case to answer, and ordering him to open his defence Wednesday (16 July).
The defence resumed negotiation with the prosecution following the ruling.
Mr Ojerinde faces another set of charges alongside his children also before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
In the 17 charges, the ICPC alleged that the former JAMB boss conspired with three of his children (Oluwaseun Ojerinde, Olumide Ojerinde, and Adebayo Ojerinde) to sell off property worth $150,000 after it had been forfeited to the federal government by a court order.
The property is located at House No. 4 Ahomko Drive, Achimota Phase 2, Accra, Ghana.
The prosecution also accused Mr Ojerinde of incorporating companies and taking up simultaneous appointments as Chairman and Director, while being a public officer on full-time appointment as Registrar/Chief Executive of National Examinations Council (NECO), Minna and the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Bwari, Abuja.
ICPC said this was despite the fact that Mr Ojerinde knew “very well that the Code of Conduct for Public Officers forbids public officers from engaging in private business other than farming or participating in shareholding of joint stock companies”.
ICPC had in 2020 obtained a court order for the confiscation of various assets, including schools, filling stations, and houses traced to Mr Ojerinde.
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