FG Appeals Justice
Ademola’s
Acquittal, Files
Fresh Charges

In an effort to save the war against
corruption, following a streak of losses at
the courts, the federal government on
Thursday filed an appeal against the
decision of Justice Jude Okeke to uphold
the no-case submission in the
corruption case against Justice Adeniyi
Ademola, his wife, Olabowale, and a
legal practitioner, Mr. Joe Agi (SAN).
The government through the Ministry of
Justice has also filed a fresh case at the
Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) against
Justice Ademola and wife for living
above their means and failure to declare
their assets.
On Wednesday, Justice Okeke of the
High Court of the Federal Capital
Territory upheld a no-case submission
by the defence in the corruption case
against Justice Ademola, his wife and
Agi.
However, sources in the presidency who
appeared to be very learned in the
nuance of criminal trials and the
provisions of the law, said that the
learned trial judge struck out the 18-
count charge proffered against the
defendants after holding that the
prosecution failed to prove any of the
allegations, despite the provisions of
Sections 53 and 60 of the Independent
Corrupt Practices and Other Related
Offences (ICPC) Act.
The sources informed State House
correspondents that the government
was advised to appeal what it described
as “a very strange outcome indeed
considering the underlying facts”.
According to the presidency sources, “It
is even more strange that the trial was
not allowed to continue considering the
applicable statutory provisions.”
Section 53(1) of the ICPC Act raises the
presumption that any gratification
accepted or obtained by an accused
person must have been corruptly
accepted or obtained until the contrary
is proved. Section 60 of the Act does
not apply to the case.
“Of interest is the decision of the
learned trial judge that the offence of
giving and receiving gratification was not
made out by the prosecution against
the defendants in the face of the
evidence held in court.
“Prosecution witnesses gave testimony
of the payment of N30 million in three
tranches by Mr. Joe Agi into the account
of Mrs. Olabowale Ademola, the wife of
Justice Ademola.
“Mr. Agi was a legal practitioner who
actually had cases in the court of Justice
Ademola.
“The defendants however claim that the
money was a gift from common friends
for the benefit of Justice Ademola and
Mrs. Ademola to support the wedding of
their daughter.
“The evidence of the defence suggesting
that the source of the money was not
Mr. Joe Agi was unclear at best and
ought not to have formed the basis of
the learned trial judge’s conclusion at
this stage of the proceedings.
“What was clear was that the last
tranche was paid shortly before Justice
Ademola granted a garnishee order in
favour of Mr. Joe Agi’s client to the tune
of about US$637 million.
“Prior to this, it was also not disputed
that Justice Admola’s son had received a
BMW vehicle worth about
N8,500,000.00 from Mr. Joe Agi,”
argued the sources knowledgeable
about the case.
One presidency official further added:
“One of the charges dismissed relates to
the possession of firearms by Justice
Ademola without a valid licence.
“On this, Honourable Justice Okeke held
that the Firearms Act made a provision
for a time lag, that is, for Justice
Ademola to continue to hold on to his
firearms and ammunition even after the
expiration of his licence.
“In this case, a new licence was
tendered in a situation where Justice
Ademola ought to have tendered a
renewal of his old licence.
“Being in possession of two licences in
respect of the same firearm ought to
have raised some questions for the
defendants to resolve.”
Also, sources within the prosecution
team revealed that “the ruling
suggested that the learned trial judge
proceeded to ascribe probative value to
the evidence of prosecution witnesses at
the stage of the no-case submission
when he ought only to have considered
whether a prima facie case had been
made out by the prosecution against
the defendants”.
They argued that the learned trial judge
had held that there was no link between
the gratification received by Justice
Ademola and the judgment he delivered
in favour of Agi.
“The ruling however failed to address
the relevance of Section 53 of the ICPC
Act which raised a presumption of
corruption in respect of the gratification
in question.
“This and other troubling questions must
be addressed in an appeal against the
ruling,” they said.
When contacted for the official
comment of the presidency on this
issue, the president’s media aide, Mr.
Garba Shehu, said there was no rift
between the executive and the judiciary
over Justice Ademola’s acquittal and
other recent judicial decisions posing a
challenge to the war against corruption.
“The relationship between the two arms
of government has been very cordial.
Nothing has happened to change the
nature of the relationship,” he said.


https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2017/04/07/fg-appeals-justice-ademolas-acquittal-files-fresh-charges-at-cct/

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