odeotito: Don't you get it! Those facts were the contents of Tarfa's phone overtime!! Those 90something SANs will argue in court that the evidence obtained from Tarfa's phone is inadmissible. Just watch out for them. Very shameless band of ....
The cell phone evidence is the east of their worries since the cell phone records/Text from the judge saying thank you after already traced deposit into the judges account by the accused is still there for them to deal with.
Are they also going to deny that the bank account that the money came from doesn't belong to the accused and the judge never opened any bank account that the money from the accused went into?
PIC. 5. FROM LEFT: GOV. SERIAKE DICKSON OF BAYELSA; VICE PRESIDENT NAMADI SAMBO; DEPUTY SPEAKER, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, CHIEF EMEKA IHEDIOHA AND GOV. RAMALAN YERO OF KADUNA STATE AT THE GRAND FINALE OF TRANSFORMATION AMBASSADORS OF NIGERIA (TAN ) RALLY IN SUPPORT OF PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN IN ABUJA ON SATURDAY (18/10/14).
poseidon12: Don't you think that the EFCC should be seen to be non partisan? May be you don't realize that the EFCC are working for Nigeria and not for Buhari. If the Senators know their responsibilities, they should ask Mr. Magu to resign. He is obviously a fool. Little wonder he was complaining about senior lawyers representing the accused as if one is automatically guilty as soon as one is accused.
What's partisan here? Is this a political party or do you see APC placards anywhere? Or the Nigerian flag they carried means partisanship too?
doctokwus: Read it and this totally ruined my day because it's clear that this has been a widespread practice. Knowing also that it's this same chief judge Auta that reassigned that Ekweremadu forgery case gives one further cause to feel saddened. In all honesty,though I hope I am wrong,but with the present crop of judges and lawyers,i don't see the anti-corruption fight being won.The havoc on the judiciary is too deep rooted. Sad fact.
These crooks have been manipulating the system for ages. How do you think corruption cases languish for over 10 years without resolution or corrupt people like Odili gets perpetual injunction against arrest never ever?
These looters loot with confidence just because they loot enough money to buy the court system with their loot.
Obviously, the EFCC boss wasn't talking trash when he made the claim about the odious and crooked relationship between the judicial system,criminals and corrupt people.
I'm sure this is the first salvo, many judges are going to be exposed at the end of the day..
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has accused Rickey Tarfa, a senior Nigerian lawyer, of having a long history of manipulating courts and improperly communicating with judges. The EFCC had, on Tuesday, arraigned Mr. Tarfa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, before a Lagos State High Court on a two-count charge of obstruction of justice and attempting to pervert the course of justice. Mr. Tarfa had fought back, dragging the anti-graft agency before a court to enforce his fundamental rights. According to court documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES, in one of the allegations, Mr. Tarfa made phone contacts with Justice Mohammed Yunusa in a case before the judge. The commission provided phone numbers of Mr. Tarfa, the judge, and bank documents detailing money transfer from the lawyer to Justice Yunusa. ”Based on intelligence report available to the Commission that the Applicant in a desperate bid to pervert the cause of justice in earlier proceedings involving the suspects on the subject matter was using his GSM ….. to communicate with Honourable Justice M. N. Yunusa in a case before His Lordship, the 1st Respondent requested the Applicant upon his arrest to respond to the allegation and surrender his mobile Apple I-Phone 6, colour black with MTN No. …..,” the EFCC stated in a counter affidavit deposed to by Moses Awolusi, an EFCC investigator. ”That based on investigations and data analysis of the Applicant’s mobile phones startling revelations about secret, unhealthy communications between the Applicant and judicial officers emerged. ”That investigations revealed that whilst Suits Nos. FHC/L/CS/715/2015 between Rana Prestige Industries Nigeria (owned by the suspects) and EFCC and FHC/L/CS/716 between Hair Prestige Manufacturing Nigeria and EFCC were pending before His Lordship Justice M. N. Yunusa of the Federal High Court Lagos Judicial Division were ongoing, the Applicant and Honourable Justice Yunusa of the Federal High Court were in constant communication outside the court through their mobile phone numbers i.e. GSM 080xxxxxx belonging to Justice Yunusa and GSM 080xxxxx belonging to the Applicant Rickey Tarfa SAN respectively. “Now shown to me is the call/message logs marked Exhibit ‘E’ revealing communication between the Applicant and Honourable Justice M. N. Yunusa during the pendency of the said proceedings. “That I am aware that a petition regarding this unethical practice between the Applicant and Honourable Justice M. N. Yunusa is already pending against Justice M. N. Yunusa before the National Judicial Council (NJC) and Honourable Justice M. N. Yunusa has been asked to respond to same by the NJC.”[b] The EFCC had accused Mr. Tarfa of wilfully obstructing two of its officers from arresting Gnanhooue Sourou and Nazaire Odeste, the owners of Rana Prestige Industries. According to the Commission, the senior lawyer had blocked the operatives’ attempt to arrest the two suspects, accused of committing financial crimes, by keeping them in his car for hours. The commission noted that the arrest of the suspects was based on reasonable grounds that Mr. Tarfa obstructed the operatives of the EFCC from performing their statutory duties on 5th February 2016 between the hours of 12noon and 5pm when he “willfully locked up in his Black Mercedes Jeep with Registration No. KJA 700 CG Lagos suspects wanted for economic and financial crimes in circumstances explained above.”
The EFCC also stated that from its investigations, Mr. Tarfa’s law firm, Rickey Tarfa & Co. with Access Bank Account with account no. 0000964760 paid N225,000 into Justice Yunusa’s bank account. “I know from facts revealed during investigation that the said bribe of N225, 000.00 Two Hundred and Twenty Five Thousand Naira) was accepted and acknowledged by Justice Yunusa in a text message to the Applicant wherein he said, “Thank you my senior advocate”. ”I also know that investigations has revealed that the applicant’s law firm was in the habit of asking the Chief Registrar of the Lagos Judicial Division of the Federal High Court to assign his cases before His Lordship Honourable M. N. Yunusa in furtherance of the understanding between the Applicant and the particular judge. ”I also know that investigations has revealed that even the junior counsel in the law firm of the applicant also engaged in the corrupt practices of their boss by manipulating the Federal High Court Registry to fix and assign cases filed by them to particular judges. Attached and marked Exhibit ‘P’ herewith are text messages on the assignment of the applicant’s firm’s cases to Justice Yunusa’s court.” The Commission further stated that Mr. Tarfa had, in April last year, attended a book launch in honour of Ibrahim Auta, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, in the company of Gabriel Igbinedion, who was the chief launcher. Mr. Tarfa introduced Mr. Igbinedion to judges and senior lawyers who attended the programme, according to the EFCC. “That I know as a fact that inspite of the Applicant’s knowledge of Rule 3(f)(j) of the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers which stipulates that ‘A judicial officer and members of his family shall neither ask for nor accept any gift, bequest, favour, or loan on account of anything done or omitted to be done by him in the discharge of his duties’ the Applicant did not advise his client not to donate the said sum of N8 million to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court. Now shown to me and marked Exhibit ‘Q’ is Thisday edition of 3rd May 2015 capturing the proceedings of the launching including role of the Applicant. “That I know as a fact that the Applicant’s client, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion made the donation of N8m in the referred occasion to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court inspite of knowledge by Chief Gabriel Igbinedion that his son Michael Igbinedion who had been convicted was awaiting the sentence of the Federal High Court in criminal proceedings pending against Chief Gabriel Igbinedion’s son (Chief Michael Igbinedion) before the Federal High Court. “That I know as a fact that a few hours after the donation of the said sum of N8 million to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court by the Applicant’s client, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion’s convicted son was sentenced to a year imprisonment or N1 million through a questionable plea bargain which was condemned by all right thinking Nigerians.[/b]
Instead of working on behalf of Nigerian women and what she was hired and paid to do, she spent all her time campaigning and carrying water bottle for Patience Jonathan..
She really should have been fired a long time ago..
naijaking1: Have you blamed GEJ today? ?? Unfortunately for you and your illiterate president no amount of blame can change hard facts on the ground, namely: 1. Buhari has no basic formal education, that's why he said he will make 1$=1#. Today, dollar is 370, and paid confusionists like you are here to change the perception and decieve everybody about the fact that Buhari has no clue, really. 2. Almost 1 year after GEJ left office, Buhari standard operating protocol is blame, blame, blame. 3. We someone to govern, govern, and govern. 4. Buhari is bent on taking Nigeria back to 1984, who's with him?
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I don't debate unintelligent people and unintelligent posts..
This incompetent and unproductive clown sat unconcerned and said nothing or was just too busy attacking everybody left and right, drinking roadside pami, governing with kponmo selling market women and other ridiculous and absurd activities while his cronies/PDP looted us dry, drained our foreign reserve, looting the CBN and sharing our money for 16 long years, not all of a sudden, they all have common sense, now they are concerned about the same economy they bastardized and wrecked.
Do you not know that when you steal your treasury dry, when you drain and share your foreign reserve, when you mismanage your resources and when you refused to save your money when you were making $100/per barrel from oil sales for rainy days like today when oil is selling for $27 that there's going to be serious consequences down the road?
dainformant: These secondary school students who are meant to be in school studying -didn't deem if fit to "arrange themselves" as they were spotted romancing themselves publicly on Lekki expressway in Lagos
And this is shocking or news worthy?
There are too many idle and jobless people in Nigeria for real?
MCMLXXVI: His job is to stand with the COUNTRY, NOT his BOSS, for his boss is but a man. His allegiance is to the INSTITUTION. Stop letting your silly partisan sentiments blind you.
You people complained when Marilyn Ogar did all she did. Why are you suddenly blind to the impunity under this government?
There's something in the Nigerian constitution called freedom of association and to our knowledge, there's no conflict of interest since the folks in the picture doesn't have any ongoing case within his jurisdiction.
2sex: I am not someone who believe in the blame game like the moronic simpleton you are.
I am a full Buharist but not a sentimental, illogical one like you.
Buhari should stop the forking travels and face what he was elected to do. Simple. It's a matter of time before we reach the 2019 election window and then Nigerians will decide.
The only thing I see him doing is "fight" corruption.
Is that the only thing plaguing the country? Is that all we shall be hearing till four forking years elapses?
Love Machine: Many of us may have seen the iron fences that lagos state government is mounting between railway tracks.
Serious ignorance. I know many of you are used to incompetent leaders who care less when it comes to your safety, but this is for your own safety. They are probably even getting ready for the Metro Red Line.
If i may ask,is that not another way of siphoning public fund?The ex governor fashola had used #2b to plant flowers.What did lagosians benefits from it.Nothing.
Serious ignorance. Read and find out about not only the beautification effects of flowers and trees, also about their environmental benefits...
Nigeria needs human development not irrelevant project where funds will be diverted into private pockets
I just hope shallow and ignorant people like you are never in any position to manage other people's lives..
2sex: Sliced bread is now 400 Nairal. Something that used to sell for 200. If I swear for you ehen...
Why are you crying now that bread is N1000?
Do you not know that when you steal your treasury dry, when you drain and share your foreign reserve, when you mismanage your resources and when you refused to save your money when you were making $100/per barrel from oil sales for rainy days like today when oil is selling for $27 that there's going to be serious consequences down the road like when bread is going to sell for 400 naira like you are complain now.
You sat there like mumu for 16 long years shouting GEJ till 2019 when they were doing serious damage to your economy, while they were looting and sharing your reserve, now you are crying over bread and looking for somebody to blame for your mumuness..
You better wake up and smell the garri, there's no free lunch of free ride after failing to save and prepare for tomorrow, you reap what you sow..
chukwudi44: Allison Madueke is not a Mr please,He is Rear Admiral Allison Madueke,Nigeria's former chief of Naval staff.He left the government since 1994 and i dont know why the EFCC is going after him now.Buhari had better face Diezani and the british police if he thinks he has evidence to indict her
Of what relevance is this nonsense? Sometimes I really wonder about you people
2sex: if I reply you the way I want, I will surely get a ban as it has been the custom in this section.
What sort nonsense are you talking or do you think you are the only supporter of buhari?
You don't have to support anybody to figure out that Nigerians went to the polls and gave the president a mandate to manage our affairs and this is exactly what he's doing and if for whatever reason you don't agree with his stewardship, you have your constitutional rights to vote him out come 2019, it's called democracy in case you still don't know.
Btw. Do you really think I care about whatever insults you stored under your tongue? Please go ahead if you must.
Mboi: What is this one saying, Trophy? Does that drink have taste? Which ore are you talking about? You people's hatred will not allow you to grow. What you southwest produce, that people build factories in your land does not make you the owner of the factory.
PapaBrowne: I am about to wail and wail really loud. My wailing is about the exchange rate. 354 Naira to the dollar.
This is terrible and has never happened with this speed ever before in this country. And the single reason for this terrible exchange rate uncertainty is Buhari's insistence that the CBN should not officially devalue the currency just to score cheap political goals.
I want to use this simple narrative to explain whats happening with our currency..and how Buhari's insistence is dealing deadly blows to the economy.The purported official exchange rate is 197 Naira to the dollar. The market rate as at yesterday was 354 Naira to the dollar.
Scenario 1 Now lets assume you are a company importing say industrial goods. So you want to restock and you need $10 million. So you apply for that amount to CBN (say in January) and you pay 1.97 billion Naira at the official exchange rate. CBN delays your approval by about a month(February), but no worries, you now have your $10 million. Typically, you would transfer your money to your supplier say in South Korea and say it takes another month to produce your order(March) and 2 months for shipping to Nigeria(May). Lets say it takes maybe 3 months to sell out your entire stock(August). Lets assume you usually mark up profits on your products by 20% after taxes et al. So on an investment of $10 million, you would make a profit of say $2 million from January to August. At the official exchange rate that is approx 400 Million Naira in 8 months. Good money it seems yeah?
Scenario 2 You are still a company importing industrial goods. So you want to restock and you need $10 million. So you follow the same process starting in January. Apply, pay 1.97 billion Naira, you get your $10 million in February. You decide not to transfer it. Dollar is exchanging at 320 Naira in the black market. So you take $5 Million from that money and sell it to BDCs at 300 Naira. You are given 1.5 billion Naira cash instantly. In one day, you've made a whooping 500 million Naira in profits. You hoard the rest of the $5 Million overseas on the speculation that dollar would exchange for 500 Naira in the next 3 months. And when that happens, your $5 million would give you N2.5 billion cash. So in total by May/June, you would have earned 1.5 Billion +2.5 Billion= 4 billion Naira from your 1.97 billion Naira investment.
That is 2 Billion Naira returns in 5 months vs N400 million in 8 Months. And you can even make more iff you keep round tripping with the CBN.
The first and direct consequence on this is the the continual rise in the exchange rate. Now that's a problem in itself but maybe not too big of a problem because a weak Naira can actually help your products sell well overseas.
The bigger problem however in the scenario for instance, is the sudden conversion from an industrial goods importer to a Forex Trader. Imagine what would suddenly happen to all those companies who depended on the industrial goods this trader was importing to keep thier factories running. Suddenly, they start laying off staff because they can't produce and then the whole economy suffers the ripple effect.
With Buhari, our economy is in real trouble. The bigger danger is that he doesn't even appear to understand the implications of his action and the near irreversibility of a badly battered economy.
I am not here to insult the President. I don't believe in that. He is the President, so the office should at least be respected. But something is not right and every patriotic Nigerian would do well to speak.I think we have not just an unintelligent President, but a stubborn one that completely lacks an understanding of basic economic principles and refuses to listen to even the best of his aides. I say this because I know the likes of Fashola who understands the rudiments of basic economics would have the same understanding of the scenarios painted and the long term implications they would have on this country.
Pat Utomi has spoken. Emir Sanusi has spoken. Many others are dying to speak. I beg, if you love this country, its imperative Buhari must be told to remove his hands from monetary policy and leave it for the professionals at CBN.
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Nigerians voted for the president to manage our affairs and he's doing it the best way he can, but if you don't like what he's doing, wait till 2019 and vote him out.
For now, stop bothering us with your cries and moans..
You want to save Nigeria, but you still can not save your own crumbling and unproductive villages that you can not wait to run away from at the slightest opportunity...
“I will be the first to concede that the Igbo as a group is not without its flaws. Its success can and did carry deadly penalties: the dangers of hubris, overweening pride, and thoughtlessness, which invite envy and hatred or, even worse, than can obsess the mind with material success and dispose it to all kinds of crude showiness. There is no doubt at all that there is a strand in contemporary Igbo behavior that can offend by its noisy exhibitionism and disregard for humility and quietness.” - Chinua Achebe
Wyttcat: Why didn't you quote him and say "it was in bad taste"? You were short of congratulating him though, when you didn't say anything to such a big insult of Ooni but jumped on mine that was just a reply to his insult. You can deceive others not me.
Truth is, you enjoyed it when Ooni was called a "slave", and were only pained when I moved in on him and you knew I was about to trash the one you respect as much as we respect Ooni.
You are not part of the house of Oduduwa, What you have shown if your comments are anything to go by is that, you and yours are at best the slaves ones at the backyard of Oduduwa.
And No! Ooni doesn't need to trace his root, he's where his root is, it's you impostors and kids who need to trace your roots!
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday arraigned a senior lawyer, Rickey Tarfa, before Justice Aishat Opesanwo of Lagos State High Court, Igbosere, on 2-count charge of obstruction of justice and attempting to pervert the course of justice. Mr. Tarfa pleaded not guilty to both counts.
Based on his plea, the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo prayed the court for a trial date and to remand the defendant in custody.
However, Adeniyi Akintola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, who led a team of over 90 Senior Advocates and other lawyers to represent Mr. Tarfa, said they had filed an application for bail which he said was served on the prosecution on the 10th of February, 2016.
In his application for bail, the defence counsel told the court that the defendant went to court voluntarily and that he was granted administrative bail by EFCC on self-recognition. He said the defendant was a very senior member of the bar with no criminal record. He said there was nothing to show that the defendant would jump bail.
However, prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, urged the court to dismiss the application as the offence was grave. He urged the court to dismiss the application and order for an accelerated hearing.
Justice Opesanwo, in her ruling, granted bail to Mr. Tarfa on self-recognition but ordered that he must not travel out of the country without the permission of the court.
The trial judge bemoaned the number of counsel who were in court for the defendant. She noted that there was no need for such magnitude of support as it amounts to harassment and intimidation of the court. Soon after the ruling, Mr. Akintola told the court that he had filed an application to quash the charge. Mr. Rotimi responded that he had not been served. He was subsequently served by the defence counsel in open court.
Justice Opesanwo adjourned the matter to March 14, for hearing of the application to quash the charge while the substantive case was fixed for April 20, 2016 for trial.
Mr. Ricky Tarfa, SAN, is accused of willfully obstructing two officers of the EFCC, Moses Awolusi and Sanusi Mohammed from arresting Gnanhooue Sourou and Nazaire Odeste, who were suspected to have committed economic and financial crimes in contravention of Section 38(2) (a) of the EFCC Establishment Act of 2004. Also, he is alleged to have engaged in improper communication with Justice M. Yunusa of the Federal High Court Lagos between May 11 and June 25, 2015 while the case between the EFCC and two others was pending before the judge.
“That You Rickey Tarfa (SAN) on or about the 5th day of February, 2016 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, wilfully obstructed Moses Awolusi and Sanusi Mohammed, authorized officer of Economic and Financial Crime Commission from arresting GNANHOUE SOUROU and NAZAIRE ODESTE who were reasonably suspected to have committed economic and financial crimes by keeping the said suspects in your car between 11.00 hours to 16: 30 hours”
“RICKEY TARFA (SAN) between 11th of May and 25th of June, 2015 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court attempted to pervert the course of justice by communicating with Hon. Justice M.N. Yunusa of the Federal High Court through your mobile Telephone No. 08034600000 whilst suit No: FHC/L/CS/715/2015 between Rana Prestige Industries Nigeria and EFCC and Suit No: FHC/L/CS/716 between Hair Prestige Manufacturing Nigeria and EFCC filed by you on behalf of the applicants in the two suits seeking to retrain the commission from performing its statutory duties were pending before the said judge”.
There's a clear difference between lawyers defending criminals and the same lawyers instituting endless and meaningless injunctions to disable and disrupt court proceedings just to make sure corrupt people and criminals never face trials in courts of law.
Silly and pointless injunctions doesn't help our judiciary and institutions, it basically paralysis our court systems and render them worthless and obsolete.
They don't allow these dubious tactics in the places we copied democracy from especially in America where corrupt top government officials and even governors face trials and sent to jail.
Lawyers should be able to defend their clients with their own sets of facts in any court of law if they really are capable and competent enough to do so, but these lawyers are not willing to do their job, they are basically not even trying and have never tried to do their job, all they do is derail, cripple our court system and proceedings.
Look at Saraki's last move at the SC. We know these top SANs are not dumb enough to know which and what court of law decides which and what cases, they went to the SC to string out the trial, delay, stall and make sure that our judicial system doesn't function the way it was designed to and because of their idiocy and crooked method, justice for Nigeria was delayed needlessly.
This is why we have criminal trials lasting for 10 years or more, this is why they weakly reformed the judicial system to get rid if these dubious tactics and delays that paralyzed our judicial system, obviously, they didn't go far enough to stop it completely.
I've never seen anywhere on the surface of the earth where a corrupt politician and crime suspect was given perpetual and everlasting injunction preventing any law enforcement from touching him. This is when corrupt lawyers and judges create super, untouchable and above the law Nigerians.
Many lawyers, SANs and judges in Nigeria today are nothing but crooks and destabilizing elements bent on making sure our judicial system doesn't function.
Topeakintola: And there is something wrong with this calculations
The report says that the SE was awarded a total of N2.9 billion but N17 billion has been voted for the 2nd Niger bridge
That does not make sense
The greatest fraud is jona and his thieving gang budgeting N117 billion for the same bridge, that's N100 billion more jona set you up for to pay JB in tolls for 30 years.
Thank your God jona's looting N117 billion and 30 years tolling didn't transpire.
Politics › Re: Rickey Tarfa Bribed Justice Yunusa With N225, 000. Premium Times by aresa(op): 7:35pm On Feb 18, 2016
