Tobias Sylvester
Senator Ademola Adeleke was arraigned before the Federal High Court, Abuja, to face allegations of examination malpractice, criminal conspiracy, personation, breach of duty, and aiding and abetting as he’s accused of conspiring with four others to carry out the acts while writing National Examination Council (NECO) on July 21, 2017.
The lawmaker who was arraigned, alongside four other defendants, before the court on Wednesday, October 31, 2018, pleaded not guilty to the charges and alleged that it’s a political witchhunt.
Senator Adeleke was initially arrested on July 27, 2017, by the Nigerian Police after he was accused of registering for NECO in 2017 by impersonating students of Ojo/Aro Community High School in Osun State. He signed a statement admitting that he registered but did not sit for the examination.
However, according to a result obtained from NECO, Adeleke has seven credits and one pass in the examination he claimed he didn’t participate in. It was also discovered that in his application, he claimed he was born on June 12, 1997 (20 years old) even though he was 57 at the time.
After he was arrested and arraigned before the Federal High Court, Abuja, Justice I.E. Ekwo, granted the lawmaker bail on self-recognizance and ordered him to deposit his international passport with the court’s registrar.
Justice Ekwo also directed the lawmaker to sign a bond indicating that he will always be present during the trial. The lawmaker had failed to show up when the case first opened before the court on October 15, forcing the judge to adjourn.
