– There had been issues relating to the admissibility of some of the evidences against Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia and senior lawyer Godwin Obla
– Justice OH Oshodi of the Lagos state High Court however granted the duo permission to travel abroad for medical reasons
Justice OH Oshodi of the Lagos state High Court sitting in Ikeja, has admitted a new set of evidence in a document tendered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against, Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, a serving Federal High Court judge.
ZENITHBLOG.com reports that the embattled Ofili-Ajumogobia is standing trial alongside Godwin Obla, a senior lawyer, on a 30-count charge bordering on an alleged pe*version of the course of justice, unlawful enrichment and forgery.
The two defendants allegedly committed the offence on May 21, 2015, when they conspired to pervert the course of justice with the sum of N5 million.
Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia leaving the court
An EFCC statement obtained by ZENITHBLOG.com said that at the last adjourned sitting on May 26, 2017, counsels to the defendants had opposed the admissibility of the evidence given by a prosecution witness, Tauheed Audu Musa, a former deputy comptroller-general of Customs.
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The counsels to the defendants had argued that the evidence given by Musa, who is the third prosecution witness, PW3, was not reflected in the charges before them and even the court.
Musa had told the court how he was allegedly ordered by his former boss, Dikko Inde, a former comptroller-general of Customs, to give a paper containing Ofili-Ajumogobia’s Diamond Bank account details to one Musa Omale, with a directive that the sum of N12, 000, 000.00 that would be transferred to his (Omale’s) account be paid into Ofili-Ajumogobia’s account.
Iin her ruling on the admissibility of the evidence on Thursday, June 1, Justice Oshodi overruled the objection raised by counsels to the first defendants, O Akoni and Robert Clarke , and counsel to the second defendant, Chief Ferdinard O Obi, respectively.
Justice Oshodi ruled that “the witness cannot and should not be rejected from giving evidence in relation to the case” while granting leave to the defendants to seek medical treatment abroad.
Akoni, had sought the leave of the court to enable his client, Ofili-Ajumogobia, who is said to be suffering from high blood pressure and stress-related issues, to travel to the US for urgent medical attention.
However, the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, opposed the application on the grounds that Ofili-Ajumogobia might jump bail if allowed to travel outside the country for medical attention.
The judge, in his ruling, said: “I believe that the first defendant as a Federal High Court Judge has a lot to lose if she considers the idea of jumping bail.
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“The Chief Registrar is hereby ordered to release the international passport of the first defendant to enable her travel abroad between June 7 and June13, 2017.
“The defendant must return the passport to the Chief Registrar on or before July 1, 2017.”
Justice Oshodi also granted Obla leave to travel to Houston, Texas, US for medical treatment but he was ordered to return his passport to the chief registrar on July 4, 2017.
The case was adjourned to July 6, 2017 for continuation trial.
ZENITHBLOG.com had earlier reported a fresh apprehension in the judiciary following the revelation that some judges allegedly received bribe from a senior lawyer.
Daniel Danladi, a detective with the special task force of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday, March 16, 2017 revealed to the Ikeja High Court that some judges received bribe from Dr Joseph Nwobike, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
Watch this video of how some women in Lagos allegedly embarrassed the state’s chief judge recently:
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