BEVERLY HILLS, November 08, (THEWILL) – A senior lawyer, who has worked for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Godwin Obla, has given statement to investigators which contradicted an earlier statement given by the accused Justice.
Obla was queried in relation to an allegation of the payment of N5 million to a Federal High Court judge, Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, through a company in which the embattled judge has an interest.
THEWILL gathered that Ofili-Ajumogobia had earlier told operatives during interrogation that the money was a part payment for a property she sold to the lawyer in Abuja for N40 million sometime in 2015.
However, Obla’s statement indicates that the money was meant for buying of building materials (iron rods) for a building he was putting up in Abuja and not for buying of any property, a source at the commission said.
He stated that in one of his trips to Lagos, he ran into the judge who had been a contemporary in university days and talk led to her acquainting him with where he can get very good building materials in Lagos.
He alleged that the judge gave him the name of someone who plies the trade and provided the company’s name and the account number for the transaction.
He then paid the money and goods were supplied.
However, investigation by the EFCC revealed that the account number the N5 million was paid into by the senior lawyer had been confirmed to be a company belonging to the female judge and her children.
Furthermore, the registered company is not known to be engaged in building materials or any viable business but has been fingered in other illegal transactions including suspicious payments of sorts by some other persons.
Story by Oputah David
