According to reports, the anti-graft agency attempted to arrest the civil servant in Owerri, Imo State, on Wednesday, but she allegedly fled before operatives could apprehend her.
An ICPC source said the suspect also contacted influential individuals after learning of the planned arrest, which allegedly led to pressure on operatives to withdraw from the operation.
Mrs Odom, a Level 13 officer with the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS), an FCTA department responsible for land records and administration in the Federal Capital Territory, is currently facing prosecution for allegedly forging academic and service certificates to secure employment.
The ICPC had in December 2025 arraigned her before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in a case marked CR/717/2025 on four counts bordering on forgery and the use of forged documents.
Prosecutors allege that she forged a Bachelor of Science degree certificate in Political and Administrative Studies purportedly issued by the University of Port Harcourt in March 2008. She is also accused of presenting the same document as genuine in 2011 during her employment process with the FCTA.
In addition, the commission alleges that Mrs Odom forged a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Certificate of National Service dated March 25, 2009, and later presented it as authentic to secure her job.
The offences, according to the ICPC, contravene Sections 362 and 366 of the Penal Code and are punishable under Section 364 of the Penal Code Act.
Employment records show that Odom joined the FCTA on August 17, 2009, as an Administrative Officer II and has since risen to the position of Assistant Chief Administrative Officer.
Further investigation by the ICPC reportedly revealed discrepancies in the academic credentials she presented.
In a response to the commission’s inquiry in August 2023, the University of Port Harcourt confirmed that Odom had been a student of Educational Foundations (Political Science) in the Faculty of Education between 2000 and 2007 but did not graduate.
The university explained that she spent the maximum six-year residency period for the programme but failed to complete the course requirements and was unable to graduate.
The institution also stated that the format of the certificate she presented differed from those issued by the university at the time, raising doubts about its authenticity.
Similarly, the National Youth Service Corps informed investigators that the certificate submitted by Odom was not issued by the scheme.
In a verification letter sent to the ICPC in March 2024, the NYSC said its records showed no evidence that she was mobilised for national service or deployed to Imo State in 2008. It also noted that the call-up number attached to the certificate did not exist in its database.
The scheme added that the certificate number provided was not part of the series issued for Certificates of National Service in Imo State during the period in question.
Efforts to reach Mrs Odom for comment were unsuccessful as calls and messages to her phone lines were not returned as of the time of filing this report.
Mrs Odom is reportedly related by marriage to former Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Chuka Odom. Reports indicate she married Benjamin Ndubuisi Odom, the former minister’s brother, in 2009 and subsequently changed her surname from Obasi to Odom.
