Senior lawyer convicted for perversion of justice - Welcome To Infotainnet

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Monday, 30 April 2018

Senior lawyer convicted for perversion of justice

A high court in Lagos has convicted Joseph Nwobike, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on 12 counts bordering on perversion of justice.
Raliat Adebiyi, a judge, gave the verdict on Monday.
She said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had been able to prove beyond reasonable doubts that the lawyer perverted the course of justice.
The anti-graft agency had accused Nwobike of being in constant communication with court officials to influence the assignment of his cases to some judges.
Rotimi Oyedepo, counsel to EFCC, appealed to the judge to impose a two-year jail sentence on the lawyer in order to serve as deterrence to others but Wale Akoni, Nwobike’s lawyer, appealed to Adebiyi to show mercy.
The judge adjourned proceedings, saying she would deliver her judgement later.
Nwobike was first arraigned on a five-count charge on March 9, 2016 but the EFCC later amended the charges on two different occasions, each time leading to the re-arraignment of the SAN.
The last amendment to the charges saw Nwobike re-arraigned on February 8 , after which the lawyers canvassed their final arguments.
In the charges, EFCC claimed that Nwobike offered N750,000 and N300,000 gratifications to Mohammed Yunusa and Hyeladzira Nganjiwa, two judges of the federal high court.
The EFCC alleged that Nwobike offered them the money to pervert the course of justice but the lawyer pleaded not guilty.
Akoni had urged the court to discharge and acquit his client, contending that the EFCC failed to substantiate its allegations against him.
Akoni said contrary to the claim by the EFCC, the N750,000 that Nwobike gave to Yunusa was not a bribe but for the specific purpose of helping the (sick) mother of the gentleman.
He said all the judgments which the EFCC claimed that Nwobike paid Yunusa to give in his favor were all upheld by the court of appeal.

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