SAN FRANCISCO, April 30, (THEWILL) – A Lagos High Court has convicted a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Joseph Nwobike, of 12 counts on allegation of inducement to pervert the cause of justice.
The presiding judge, Justice Raliat Adebiyi, however, acquitted him on five counts of giving gratification and one count of making false statement but stood down the case for sentencing.
Nwobike was first arraigned on five count charges on March 9, 2016 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
It later amended the charges on two occasions, each time leading to the re-arraignment of the SAN.
In the last amendment, EFCC had claimed that Nwobike offered N750,000 and N300,000 gratifications to Justices Mohammed Yunusa and Hyeladzira Nganjiwa, respectively both judges are federal high court judges.
Counsel for the EFCC, Mr Oyedepo, argued that the money was allegedly meant to prevent the cause of Justice which is section 97 (3) of the criminal law of Lagos state.
