The Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos on Monday heard a witness describe<\/p>\n
how foreign currency was moved from Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia chambers
\nand deposited into her account in Diamond Bank.<\/p>\n
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that Ademola Oshodi was
\ntestifying at the ongoing trial of Ofili-Ajumogobia, a serving judge of
\nthe Federal High Court, who is being tried alongside Godwin Obla, a Senior
\nAdvocate of Nigeria.<\/p>\n
The duo, who are being tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes
\nCommission, EFCC, for alleged corruption, have been jointly charged with
\ntwo counts of perverting the course of justice.<\/p>\n
Mr. Obla was charged with additional two-counts of offering gratification
\nin the sum of N5million to Mrs, Ofili-Ajumogobia, a public official while
\ncarrying out her duties as a judge.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia, however, faces a 26-count charge of unlawful
\nenrichment, taking property by a public officer, corruption by a public
\nofficer, forgery and giving false information to an official of the EFCC.<\/p>\n
The accused persons both denied all the charges.
\nThe EFCC alleges that between 2012 and 2015, Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia
\nreceived a total of $788,000 from various sources into her Diamond Bank
\nAccount with number 0032091183.<\/p>\n
While being led in evidence by counsel to the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, Mr.
\nOshodi told the court that he met Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia at her chambers at
\nthe Federal High Court when he opened an account for her with the bank.<\/p>\n
Mr. Oshodi, a Branch Manager with Diamond Bank Plc, is the account officer
\nfor Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia.<\/p>\n
The banker alleged that he often visited the justice\u2019s chambers and also
\nher home whenever she needed his services to make such deposits which was
\nmostly in dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to meet the judge in her chambers and sometimes in her home, where
\nI\u2019d receive the foreign currency, which was U.S. dollars to deposit into
\nher bank account.<\/p>\n
\u201cI introduced one Abba Said, a Bureau de Change operative to her when
\nthere was a need to change the dollars to naira.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis mostly happens when she was not comfortable with a particular
\ntransaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were instances where the deposits exceeded the maximum amount for
\nan individual account, when such instances occur, I pay the maximum amount
\ninto her account.<\/p>\n
\u201cI then deposit the remaining cash into my account which is paid into her
\naccount in subsequent days,\u201d Mr. Oshodi told the packed courtroom.
\nThe counsel to Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia, Olawole Akoni, however, raised
\nobjections when EFCC attempted to tender his client\u2019s account statements
\nas evidence on the grounds that he had not reviewed the bank statements.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first defendant has been in incarceration since November 10. She
\nneeds adequate time and facility to defend herself. I humbly seek an
\nadjournment,\u201d Mr. Akoni said.<\/p>\n
Supporting his request for adjournment, lawyer to Mr. Obla, Ifedayo
\nAdedipe, also said the second defendant had been in incarceration since
\nNovember 8.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the circumstances in which we had our meetings, it was not even
\npossible to prepare adequately for trial.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will like to request for an adjournment so that we can make judicious
\nuse of the time to prepare adequately for trial,\u201d Mr. Adedipe said.
\nJustice Hakeem Oshodi in granting an adjournment said, \u201cfor the purpose of
\nfair hearing, the court will accede to the request for adjournment of this
\ntrial.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe case is adjourned to January 9, 2017 for continuation of trial,\u201d Mr.
\nOshodi said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos on Monday heard a witness describe how foreign currency was moved from Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia chambers and deposited into her account in Diamond Bank.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n