A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has convicted a retired Deputy Director of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Dare Adebowale Oladapo, for falsifying his age to extend his service years and fraudulently earning salaries after his due retirement.
According to a statement made available to newsmen on Tuesday by the spokesperson for the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Demola Bakare, Justice Ibrahim Yusuf delivered the judgment on October 7, 2025, “finding the former public servant guilty of age falsification and corrupt self-enrichment — offences contrary to Sections 25(1)(a) and 25(1)(b) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.”
It added, “The case followed a petition filed by an Ilorin-based lawyer, F. F. Ikebundu, which prompted an ICPC investigation revealing that Oladapo altered his birth records to reflect November 11, 1964, instead of November 11, 1959, thereby unlawfully extending his service period.
“Prosecutors Kalu Ugbo and Zainab Moshood told the court that the convicted officer fraudulently received ₦1,233,258.95 in salaries and allowances between December 2019 and April 2020 — four months after he was legally due for retirement.
“Yusuf sentenced Oladapo to two years’ imprisonment with an option of ₦100,000 fine on each of the two counts, and ordered him to refund the entire ₦1.23m illicitly earned during the period.
“The convict has since paid both the ₦200,000 fine and the ₦1.23m refund into the ICPC Recovery Account as directed by the court.”
Bakare added that the commission remains committed to upholding integrity and accountability in public service.
In June 2022, PUNCH Online reported that the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan, accused some civil servants of age falsification.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Yemi-Esan noted that the salaries of the civil servants found wanting had been suspended through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
She noted that the Federal Government-backed IPPS had, so far, exposed and eliminated about 70,000 ghost workers in the civil service system, according to the statistics given by the office of the Head of Service.
Similarly, in January 2021, the Nigeria Police Force launched an investigation into a case of alleged criminal conspiracy and forgery against three top management staff members of the National Assembly.
Our correspondent learnt that the three officials (names withheld) are currently holding key positions in the management hierarchy.
They were said to have been invited twice by the Federal Capital Territory Police Command over alleged falsification of their date of birth records, aimed at extending their retirement period.
PUNCH