Court remands don for forgery

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday ordered the prison remand of one Prof. Joseph Mba who was accused of forging some documents in the name of the Institute of Strategic Management Nigeria Limited.

Justice Saliu Saidu ordered that Mba should be remanded pending when he will file his application for bail.

The order was made shortly after the police Special Fraud Unit arraigned Mba on three counts bordering on forgery and perjury.

The police accused the professor of forging a Special Resolution of the Institute of Strategic Management Nigeria Limited dated June 11, 2012, with the intention of changing the name of the institution to the Institute of Strategic Management Limited.

The said document was said to have been allegedly signed by one Dr. Austin Uwandulu to make it appear as if it was genuine so as to prejudice the Institute of Strategic Management Nigeria Limited.

The don was also said to have allegedly forged another Special Resolution of the Institute of Strategic Management Nigeria Limited dated June 12, 2012, wherein he stated that one Samuel Ojo, a lawyer, had been appointed as the secretary/legal adviser of the institution.

The second document was also said to have been signed by Uwandulu.

Mba was further accused of conspiring with some persons still at large to forge a Special Resolution of an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Institute of Strategic Management Nigeria Limited dated June 14, 2012.

In the said document, Mba, with his accomplices, allegedly stated that the Institute of Strategic Management Nigeria Limited held its Extraordinary General Meeting on December 17, 2012 instead of June 14, 2012.

According to the police, the accused had claimed that at the purported meeting some persons were appointed as the director of the Institute of Strategic Management Nigeria Limited.

The fake document was said to have been signed by Mba and Ojo, who he had been parading himself as the secretary/legal adviser of the company.

The police prosecutor, Effiong Asuquo, told Justice Saidu on Monday that Mba acted contrary to and was liable to punishment under sections 1(2)(c) and 3(1) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap. M17 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

But Mba pleaded not guilty to the charges following Asuquo urged the court to remand him in prison pending trial.

While adjourning  till March 21, 2016 for trial, Justice Saidu ordered Mba to be remanded in prison pending his bail application.