Tunde Ogunsakin, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), who former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi is allegedly sponsoring to become the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in order to truncate corruption investigation against him has been found to be a serial offender himself.
According to our investigations, Ogunsakin was in 2009 fired as director of operations of the EFCC by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua after a series of offenses including examination malpractice, bribery, and allegations of treason.
Ogunsakin is reported to have cheated in a University of Abuja (UNIABUJA) Law School examination and was in the habit of paying lecturers and students to pass him or write examinations on his behalf.
The first case in question, according to iReports NG was a compulsory GST 101, written in the 2005/2006. When he was caught , Ogunsakin was said to have evaded expulsion with the help of his godfathers and high ranking government officials.
But more was to come as in 2009, he was involved in yet another examination malpractice scandal when on Tuesday, April 7, 2009 – while he was already the Director of Operations of the EFCC – he was accused of paying a 500 level student, Bright Edobor to write an assessment test, Law of Equity (LAW403) on his behalf, as the lecturer, one Larry O.C Chukwu was not willing to succumb to his financial advances.
After the scandal had gone public, Yar’Adua was said to have ordered a thorough investigation into the allegation, prompting the EFCC to swing into action.
In the course of investigation, the authorities of UNIABUJA in a memo by the university’s registrar, M.B Modibbo and addressed to the EFCC on Monday, May 4, 2009 confirmed the 2005 incident. but claiming that the major witness had gone for youth service and later left the country, making their investigation inconclusive.
See the letter below:
President Yar’Adua proceeded to relieve Ogunsakin of his job at EFCC, but instead of prosecuting the suspect, the police authority was said to have “hidden” Ogunsakin, only for him to be promoted and posted to the Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU) a sensitive position in the police force.
Asides his academic misdemeanors, Ogunsakin, after he was sacked from the EFCC was said to have engaged in treasonable activities.
According to reports, Ogunsakin joined forces with several aggrieved personalities, including former EFCC Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu to plot the destabilization of the country. Nigeria’s Secret Police (SSS) found that Ogunsakin had held meetings in the UK to plot the overthrow of the Yar’Adua administration, prompting the SSS to detain and interrogate Ogunsakin as soon as he returned to Nigeria on allegations of gathering sensitive information on the Presidency and leaking it to the media in order to cause unnecessary embarrassment.
In 2012 a coalition of civil society groups, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), petitioned the Police Service Commission (PSC), decrying Ogunsakin’s undue promotion and seeking further investigation and subsequent prosecution of Ogunsakin for his involvement in the aforementioned crimes.
The CACOL petition had read in full:
OPEN LETTER TO SIR PARRY OSAYANDE
May 17, 2012 | Author bimmy
May 11, 2012
Sir Parry Osayande
Chairman
Police Service Commission
Abuja
PROMOTING GODFATHERISM ABOVE INTEGRITY IN POLICE PROMOTION AND POSTING: CALL FOR A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION AND POSSIBLE PROSECUTION OF DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, TUNDE OGUNSAKIN
The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) is a group of civil societies, community-based and other non-governmental organizations with the objective of fighting corruption and corrupt persons by any means possible at all levels in Nigeria.
It has come to our notice that your Commission allegedly based some of your decisions and actions on conjectures rather than concrete and verifiable indices. It is against this backdrop that we would like to, for the umpteenth time, call on the Police Service Commission (PSC) and other authorities concerned to, as a matter of urgency, investigate all allegations of examination malpractices against former DCP. Tunde Ogunsakin who was seconded to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as Director of Operations, and was promoted to the position of the Commissioner of Police in the recent promotion exercise carried out by the PSC.
The promotion exercise was greeted by grumblings within the top hierarchy of the Nigeria Police Force. Many of the officers who have been unjustly treated and could muster enough strength to speak out have tried to ventilate their anger and frustration through different means in the media. Just in about two weeks ago, precisely on Saturday, May 5 2012, The Saturday Sun newspaper published an interview granted by a prominent lawyer, Barrister Debo Adeleke (copy attached) who actually demanded for the removal of the PSC Chairman for allegedly promoting officers with questionable character and low integrity far and above their peers, superiors and seniors with clean and excellent records.
We are compelled to write this petition after our initial investigation of the various allegations against the PSC Chairman revealed that one of the beneficiaries of latest promotion and posting exercise, Mr. Tunde Johnson Ogunsakin, a Commissioner of Police, had been indicted for an examination fraud and consequently expelled by the University of Abuja. We have also established that the officer was, amidst cries for justice by other officers, posted to head a very sensitive unit in the Police Force, the Special Fraud Unit, SFU.
Despite the fact that investigations revealed that Ogunsakin was found wanting by contravening the import of oath of office he swore to be truthful and trustworthy, he did the opposite by courting so many controversies, got entangled and enmeshed in several examination malpractices in his years at the University of Abuja where the authority of the higher institution confirmed that he was culpable but was never really disciplined. Reports in our possession also indicate that Mr. Ogunsakin, was already a 400-level law student of University of Abuja when it was discovered he was not granted leave of absence to undertake a full-time course at the institution by the former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, in 2005.
Firstly, Ogunsakin was caught for an examination fraud by a hard-to-compromise lecturer from the English Department, when he was sitting for a compulsory GST 101 course in his first year at the school. The school authority confirmed this in a memo issued on 4th May 2009 when the police chief was caught in yet another examination fraud. The memo endorsed by the school’s registrar, M.B Modibo with reference number UA/R/GEN/50 disclosed, “the above named student (Tunde Ogunsakin-matric no.05251064) was alleged to have been involved in some form of examination malpractice during the 2005/2006 academic session”. The police officer, who was the Director of Operations in EFCC then, was again caught by another lecturer, Larry O.C Chukwu on April 7, 2007 when he (Ogunsakin) sought the assistance of Yinka Afolayan, a 400-level law student of the University to write an examination on his behalf due to his absence from school. Afolayan in turn contracted the services of a 500 level student of the same institution, Bright Edobor who finally wrote the course assessment test on Law of Equity (LAW403) for the police officer.
The scandal became a public issue when an online publication reported the fraud on 22nd April with a full report of the scam on the cover page of a Nigerian national paper, Compass on 24th April 2009. That was said to have prompted late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua to order for the sack of Ogunsakin from the EFCC with another directive that disciplinary action should be taken against him.
Unfortunately, years after that presidential order, both the PSC and the police authority have only succeeded in ignoring that directive and compensated Mr Ogunsakin with promotion from the rank of a Commissioner of Police to the next rank of Commissioner of Police as well as a juicy posting to the most sensitive organ of the police force, SFU.
Meanwhile, with the arrays of detailed investigation conducted on the aforementioned crimes allegedly committed by “CP” Ogunsakin, ridding the Nigeria Police Force of the bad officers who smear and bring the name of the country into disrepute, which should be the ultimate objective of the Police Service Commission, could be in jeopardy. A situation where questionable characters and elements are elevated to higher position of authority in public offices thereby promoting mediocrity should always be discouraged. Conversely, a situation where people with proven credibility, impeccable character and unassailable integrity are ignored and forgotten must be outrightly condemned while those of questionable characters must be maximally punished to serve as deterrent to others.
Our Demands:
* That the recent promotion exercise in the Nigeria Police Force should be reviewed, whereby records of performance and integrity would be used as cardinal criteria for promoting and posting in the force.
* That the House of Reps or its relevant committees should be allowed to set up public hearings where aggrieved officers can present their complaints in regard to the recent promotion and posting exercise in the police force.
* That officers with questionable records and/or indictments should be flushed out of the police to pave way for committed and dedicated officers with clean records.
* That those whose cases may not warrant outright sack should be removed from sensitive positions.
* That Mr. Tunde Johnson Ogunsakin’s case and others in his shoes should not be buried under the usual Nigerian carpet but should be made as good examples conducts not expected of a disciplined force
* That administration, promotion and posting process of men of the police force should be devoid of influence of godfatherism and nepotism.
We shall be grateful if this Petition is given speedy and adequate attention it requires. Even when we are hopeful that being a responsible and responsive body, the PSC will not ignore this Call, however we shall henceforth closely monitor your commission’s consideration of our aforestated demands if they would be heeded or ignored. If heeded we shall openly acknowledge you for it but if ignored, we shall, in our characteristic way of pursuing the cause of justice, not hesitate to follow up the demands with street processions and other forms of protests.
Thanks in anticipation of your prompt, kind and favourable consideration of this request, sir.
Yours faithfully,
Debo Adeniran
Executive Chairman, CACOL
08037194969
www.deboadeniran.com, www.debo-adeniran.blogspot.com
Friday, May 11, 2012
Cc:
* The President and Commander-in-Chief, Federal Republic of Nigeria
* The President, House of Senate, Federal Republic of Nigeria
* The Honourable Speaker, House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria
* Chairman, Senate Committee on Police Affairs
* Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Police Affairs
* Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary
* Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary
