A Lagos State High Court sitting in Igbosere on Monday adjourned till till April 21, 2016, proceedings in the bribery charges brought against a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr. Joseph Nwobike,
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arraigned Nwobike for reportedly offering a bribe of N750, 000 to a judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Mohammed Yunusa to compromise the judge.
Nwobike was on March 9, 2016 brought before Justice Raliat Adebiyi on five counts of offering gratification to a public officer, an act the EFCC noted was a violation of Section 64 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, No.11, 2011.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty, stressing that he was going to challenge the competence of the charges.
Lawyer to the accused, Wale Akoni (SAN), informed the Judge at the resumed hearing of his client’s wish for the EFCC to open and close its case before he could make his position known.
Consequently, the case was adjourned till April 21, 2016, when the EFCC is expected to present its first witness to the court.
Owobike had, in his statement to the anti-graft agency, denied giving gratification to justice Yunusa, adding that the N750,000 he presented to the 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 parked 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 for 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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