Mr Lawal Abdullahi, a detective
with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday in Lagos
revealed how Mr Godwin Obla, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Justice
Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia allegedly perverted the course of justice.
Abdullahi alleged before an Ikeja
High Court that Obla gave the Federal High Court judge N5 million gratification
to pervert the course of justice in a Nigerian Maritime Administration and
Safety Agency (NIMASA) case.
He made the allegations while
being led in evidence by Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, the EFCC prosecutor.
“The second defendant (Obla) was
an external prosecutor to the EFCC, he was assigned to handle a matter between
the commission and a former Director General of NIMASA, Raymond Omatseye who
was facing criminal charges for financial crimes.
“The matter was before the first
defendant (Ofili-Ajumogobia) at the Federal High Court, our investigation
revealed that when the case was pending before the first defendant, there was
communication between them.
“The communication was without
the knowledge of the opposing party, they are friends and had also been meeting
without the knowledge of the opposing party.
“He failed to notify the
Commission of this relationship and this may have caused conflict of interest
in the case.
“During the course of
investigation, it was discovered that there was an exchange of account numbers
between the defendants when the NIMASA case was before the first defendant.
“The sum of N5 million was
transferred by the second defendant to the judge’s account called Nigel and
Colive in Diamond Bank,” he said.
Abdullahi noted in his testimony
that it was necessary for Obla to have informed the EFCC of his relationship
with the judge because there would have been a conflict of interest in the
case.
“Obla met Ofili-Ajumogobia in her
chambers and the account number of Nigel and Colive was given to him in which
N5million was paid from the account of Obla and Co, the lawyer’s office account
in UBA.
“He admitted in his statement
that he met the first defendant sometime in April or May 2015 and as at that
time, the NIMASA matter was not concluded in court.
“In May 2016, judgment was passed
by the first defendant, the suspect was convicted but that judgment was set
aside by the Court of Appeal on May 11, 2017.
“The judge’s daughter, Aribim
Ajumogobia, was also during this period employed by NIMASA.”
The investigator revealed that
when the anti-graft agency confronted the.defendants with evidence of the bank
transactions, they gave different accounts of why the money was given to the
judge.
“Ofili-Ajumogobia gave me three
different responses as to why the money was paid into her account.
“First she denied knowing Obla,
second, she said it was for a property transaction for a property at Hilltop
area of Abeokuta and that Obla paid N5 million out of N28.5 million which was
the cost of the property.
“In another breath, she said it
was for a property in Kashi village Abuja worth N40 million for which Obla
showed an interest in and paid a deposit of N5 million.
“When we confronted Obla, he said
the N5 million was paid to the judge to buy iron rods for building and that one
Joseph or George supplied the iron rods to him.
“We confronted him with Ofili-Ajumogobia’s
statement and he said her statement was not true, and that he did not buy any
property from the judge,” he said.
Abdullahi said the EFCC
investigated the claims of Obla that the N5 million was for the supply of iron
rods and the anti-graft agency’s findings were that the claims were untrue.
The EFCC investigator went
further to claim that Ofili-Ajumogobia had used her two children; Aridim and
Tochukwu to front as directors in companies owned by her and used to launder
money.
“The address of Nigel and Colive
was given as 293, Borno Way, Ebute Meta, Lagos.
“We wrote to the company and
there was no response and our visit to the company address proved that it was
non-existent.
“The directors of the company;
Aridim Ajumogobia and Tochukwu Ajumogobia are the two children of the first
defendant.
“They were invited by the
Commission and they claimed that they did not know anything about the N5
million transaction , the company was not into any kind of business and they
did not know how they became directors,” he told the court.
The witness said anti-graft
agency through its investigators said the N5 million paid into judge’s account
by Obla was used to decorate her home in Ikoyi, Lagos.
“When the N5 million was paid
into the account of Nigel and Colive, the balance of the account was N11.5
million.
“We traced N4million paid from
that account into the account of New Frontiers Engineering Construction
Company, an interior decorating company for a N30 million contract to decorate
her home.
“The first defendant was the one
who instructed the disbursement of all the payments for Nigel and Colive.”
The EFCC investigator also told
the court how the N18 million the judge allegedly borrowed from a former
employer, Dr Gregory Ero of Arkleen Oil and Gas Ltd was used.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
reports that Ero, Ofili-Ajumogobia’s former employer had testified in court on
May 26 that the judge refused to pay back the N18 milliom he gave her in 2012.
Abdullahi while testifying said:
“My findings were that N18 million from Arkleen Oil and Gas was not part of the
illegitimate earnings of the judge.
“When the money was received on
June 5,2012 it was placed in a fix deposit, as at March , 2013 the N18 million
had become N21 million and at April 29, 2013 N22 million was transferred to the
first defendant’s account in Diamond Bank.
“This sum formed part of the N18
million that was collected from Arkleen Oil and Gas, it was converted into
dollars on May 6, 2013 at N157 per dollar and moved into her domiciliary
account in Diamond Bank.
“The converted sum was
$140,129,39 and three days after it was received, $139, 815 was moved to the
offshore account of Silversteps Incorporation, an account domiciled in First
Bank of Nigeria (FBN), United Kingdom.
“Investigations revealed that the
first defendant was behind of Silversteps Incorporation and the sole director
of the company was her daughter Aribim Ajumogobia but all transactions were
done by the judge.
“Aribim Ajumogobia was
interviewed and she confirmed that all transactions were done by her mother.
“The money was used for a
mortgage transaction for a property located at 157, Verulem Lane, London.
Oyedepo, sought to tender
documents of the mortgage transaction as evidence but Mr Robert Clarke (SAN),
Ofili-Ajumogobia’s defence counsel, objected that the documents had no
connection with the charges the judge was facing.
After his objection, Clarke in an
application dated Oct. 23 requested the release of the judge’s international
passport by the court.
Rotimi, however, opposing
Clarke’s application said:“I do not think there is an approval from the
Honourable Chief Judge for the first defendant’s journey to the U.S.A.”
Clarke responding to Oyedepo
said: “We would look into this aspect of the application and get the position
of Your Lordship at the next adjourned date.
Mr Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN) also
asked the court for the release of Obla’s international passport.
“My Lord, we have an application
dated Oct. 17 seeking Your Lordship’s leave for an order for the temporary
release of the second defendant’s international passport.
“He wants to travel to Atlanta,
Georgia, USA on Oct. 28 and return on or before Nov. 10, the defendant is
desirous of travelling because of family obligations,” Adedipe said.
In his ruling, Justice Hakeem
Oshodi said: “The Chief Registrar shall release the international passport of
the second defendant who is to travel between Oct. 28 and return on or before
Nov. 9.”
Ofili-Ajumogobia is standing
trial alongside Godwin Obla (SAN)and former prosecutor of the EFCC.
Both have been jointly charged
with a two-count offence bordering on perverting the course of justice.
Obla is facing an additional two
counts of offering gratification in the sum of N5 million to Ofili-Ajumogobia,
a public official while serving as a judge.
Ofili-Ajumogobia faces a 26-count
charge bordering on unlawful enrichment, taking property by a public officer,
corruption, forgery and giving false information to an official of the EFCC.
Both denied all the charges.
Justice Oshodi adjourned the case
until Nov. 10 for ruling on the admissibility of the mortgage documents and
continuation of trial. (NAN)
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