The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has upheld the two-year jail term imposed on former Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, Prof Cyril Ndifon, over the solicitation of obscene photographs from a female student.
The appellate court, in a judgment delivered in Appeal No. CA/ABJ/CR/1798/2025, affirmed Ndifon’s conviction on the first count.
However, the court held that the Federal High Court in Abuja lacked jurisdiction to try the second count.
It consequently ordered the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to commence a fresh prosecution on the count before the High Court of Cross River State.
The ICPC disclosed this in a statement by its spokesperson, Okor Odey, on Friday.
The commission said it would challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision on the second count at the Supreme Court.
“The Commission considers the jurisdictional question arising from Count Two to be a matter requiring further judicial determination,” it said.
Ndifon was convicted by the Federal High Court in Abuja on November 17, 2025.
Justice James Omotosho sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment on the first count and five years on the second, with the sentences ordered to run concurrently.
The first count was brought under Section 24 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015.
The prosecution alleged that Ndifon, while serving as UNICAL law dean, solicited pornographic, indecent and obscene photographs from a female student through electronic communication.
The trial court held that the prosecution had established the offence beyond reasonable doubt.
The second count accused Ndifon of using his position to confer an undue advantage on himself, contrary to Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
But the Court of Appeal ruled that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain that count under the ICPC Act.
The ICPC said the fresh prosecution would therefore be pursued before the appropriate state high court.
Ndifon was removed as Dean of the Faculty of Law, UNICAL, in 2023 following allegations of sexual misconduct involving female students.
The ICPC had alleged that he asked a female diploma student, identified as TKJ, to send him pornographic and obscene photographs through instant messaging.
The commission also alleged that he demanded sexual acts from the student in connection with her admission to the university.
During the trial, prosecutors relied on witness testimony and electronic communications between Ndifon and the student.
The Court of Appeal’s latest decision leaves the two-year conviction on the cybercrime-related first count intact, while the second count is to be reconsidered in a fresh trial before the Cross River State High Court.
