By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
A suit filed before Federal High Court Lagos Nigeria since May 5, 2020 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against two lawyers –
Sarah Omeigha Ajibola and John Ozovehe Demide – over cyber fraud charge has not yet been assigned to any judge.
The lawyers were alleged to have rigged the August 2018 Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) national elections. They were accused of manipulating the election in favour of incumbent NBA President, Paul Usoro (SAN).
In the 14-count charge marked FHC/L/118c/2020, signed and filed by the EFCC counsel RotimI Oyedepo, alleged that Sarah Omeigha Ajibola and John Ozovehe Demide, altered 1004 eligible voters’ personal details, impersonated the voters and casted votes for Usoro.
In the charge EFCC averred that the defendants conspired and knowingly altered “the e-mail and phone numbers of about 1004 eligible voters of the NBA 2018 elections with the intention that such inauthentic data will be acted upon as genuine during the said election.”
Counts three of the charge reads: “That you, Sarah Omeigha Ajibola and John Ozovehe Demide sometime in August 2018, knowingly altered the email addresses and phone numbers of about 1004 eligible voters of the NBA 2018 National elections and… thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 13 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act, 2015.
While count four reads: “That you, John Ozovehe Demide sometime on the 19th of August 2018, within the Jurisdiction of this court fraudulently used the unique identification features such as Name and Supreme Court Enrolment Number SCN043280 of one Gabriel Abijo Oladipo to vote as the same Gabriel Abijo Oladipo through your Smile modem on IP address 169.159.65.190, to vote with intent of gaining electoral advantage in favour of Mr. Paul Usoro (SAN) who was one of the Presidential Aspirants during the 2018 Nigerian Bar Association elections and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 22(2) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act, 2015 under the same section.”
