A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced the Provost of Adonai Advanced Institute of Management, Samson Orijugo, to three years in prison for forging a Lagos State University result notification.
Justice Modupe Nico-Clay delivered the judgment on Wednesday, finding Orijugo guilty of forging an official LASU notification of result to deceive a student and his family.
The judge held that the prosecution proved the offence beyond reasonable doubt and convicted Orijugo on a two-count charge of forgery.
According to the court, Orijugo, in 2015 at Badagry, produced a fake LASU notification of result in the name of a student, John Chibuzor Okoro, to falsely present Adonai Institute as an affiliate of the university.
In her ruling, Justice Nico-Clay said the evidence before the court clearly showed that the document was forged and authored by Orijugo himself.
“The document was deliberately presented as genuine on LASU letterhead to give a false impression of affiliation,” the judge said.
She added that Adonai Institute had no academic link with LASU and that Orijugo, as an administrator, was fully aware that his claims were untrue.
Orijugo was first arraigned on December 2, 2021, and pleaded not guilty. Trial began on March 8, 2022.
During the proceedings, the prosecution, led by Mrs T. Olanrewaju-Daud, called three witnesses and tendered seven documents as exhibits. Orijugo testified in his own defence.
One of the prosecution witnesses, Patience Okoro, the student’s mother, told the court that Orijugo introduced himself to her as the provost of a school in the Benin Republic affiliated with LASU.
She said, “He told me the school was linked to LASU and that my son would get a LASU-recognised result.”
Okoro explained that she met Orijugo in a commercial bus in May 2012, where he distributed flyers and promoted the institute. She said she doubted his claims because she was a LASU graduate but was convinced after repeated assurances.
She added that after her son completed the programme, Orijugo issued him a notification of result printed on LASU letterhead.
According to her, she made several payments for tuition, mobilisation, medicals and convocation, often without receipts, based on Orijugo’s promise that the certificate would be issued later.
She said the truth only emerged in 2018 when her son applied for a job and the documents were questioned, an experience that caused him emotional distress.
Another witness, Ojei Oziegbe, an Assistant Chief State Counsel at the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, told the court that LASU was contacted during investigations.
He said the university responded in writing, confirming that Adonai Institute of Management had no affiliation with LASU. The letter was admitted as evidence.
Justice Nico-Clay dismissed the defence argument that a LASU official should have testified in court, ruling that the written confirmation from the university was sufficient.
She clarified that the case was about the forgery of a result notification, not the issuance of a degree certificate.
The judge noted that Orijugo admitted issuing the document and described the act as deliberate and misleading.
Orijugo was thereafter convicted on both counts and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
