The Federal High Court, Calabar has ruled that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has the powers to investigate a former Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, Cyril Ndifon, over allegation of raping one of his students.

Spokesperson of the ICPC, Rasheedat Okoduwa, in a statement said that Ndifon, a Professor of Law, had approached the court seeking an order to restrain the ICPC from investigating the alleged offence of demanding for sexual gratification from a female student of the University.

Delivering the judgement, Justice I. E. Ekwo held that it was within the purview of ICPC to investigate the case in accordance with the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.

The trial judge also set aside a police report, which exonerated the law professor and  upon which he had sought to restrain ICPC.

Justice Ekwo maintained that there are other issues which are within the competence of ICPC to investigate in the case.

He pointed out that the offence of sexual gratification was contrary to Sections 8, 9, and 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, which refer to any public officer who receives benefit of any kind in the discharge of his duties or uses his position to confer corrupt advantage upon himself.

Recall that a final year law student of the University of Calabar had petitioned the ICPC, alleging that the lecturer, Ndifon had sex with her in his office without her consent, after inviting her to the office to rewrite an earlier cancelled test.