Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Chief Mike Okiro, has denied reports that he was indicted by the outcome of an investigation into a fraud allegation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission.
The commission had probed the allegations of graft levelled against Okiro by a worker of the PSC, Aaron Kaase, who petitioned the ICPC in May, 2015 over alleged moves by the former Inspector General of Police to swindle the body to the tune of N275m.
The ICPC in its report, directed Mr. Okiro to remit N133m to the Federal Government through the ICPC recovery account at First City Monument Bank.
The money was the balance of the N350m the PSC received for staff training and physical monitoring of police personnel during the last general elections.
Some news headlines portrayed the ICPC’s investigation as having indicted the former IGP, but Okiro, in a statement on Wednesday by the Director, Administration and Finance, PSC, Emmanuel Ibe, contended that he was not indicted.
The statement partly read, “Paragraph 3 of the ICPC report states ‘The investigation has not revealed any act of criminal infraction against the person of Sir. (Dr.) Mike Mbama Okiro, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission as all issues outlined above are administrative in nature and within the ambits of career public servants handling’.
“Where then is the indictment? The Hon. Chairman has gone through the publication and finds it not only damaging and malicious but offensive and actionable. It is also fictitious as the caption has no link whatsoever with the ICPC report or even the body of the story”.
Meanwhile, the petitioner, Kaase, has said that the findings of the ICPC investigation “has exposed its gross incompetence and lack of seriousness to lead the war against corruption in its just released report purportedly ‘exonerating’ Mr. Mike Okiro, Chairman of Police Service Commission of any criminal infraction in the alleged N275.5m PSC election fraud”.
