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Court adjourns N750,000 bribery case against senior advocate
A Lagos State High Court in Igbosere on Monday adjourned further proceedings in the bribery charges against a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr. Joseph Nwobike, till April 21.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is prosecuting Nwobike
for allegedly offering a gratification of N750,000 to a judge of the
Federal High Court, Justice Mohammed Yunusa, in order to allegedly
compromise the judge.
Nwobike was on March 9, 2016 arraigned before Justice Raliat
Adebiyi on five counts of offering gratification to a public officer, an
act the EFCC said is a violation of Section 64 (1) of the Criminal Law
of Lagos State, No.11 2011.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty, indicating that he was going to challenge the competence of the charges.
At the resumed proceedings on Monday, his lawyer, Mr. Wale Akoni
(SAN), informed the judge that his client wished for the EFCC to open
his close its case before giving his own position.
The case was consequently adjourned till April 21, 2016, when the EFCC is expected to call its first witness.
The senior advocate had in his statement to the EFCC denied bribing
Justice Yunusa, explaining that the N750,000 he offered the judge was a
financial help to the judge, whose mother he claimed underwent dialysis
due to a failing kidney.
Nwobike said, “Sometime ago, Justice Yunusa requested to see me.
When I got there, he pleaded with me to assist him with some funds since
his mother was under dialysis.
“He stated that her kidney had packed up and that he needed
assistance to cure her. I felt sorry for him. I told him that I did not
have funds, but that I will assist him when I get some money.
“I requested his account details which he obliged me. When I got
some money about two weeks after, I gave the money to him and he thanked
me when he saw me along the corridor of the court of the Federal High
Court, Ikoyi.”
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