FG Files Fresh Charges Against Justice Ademola, Appeals High Court Ruling

Justice Adeniyi Ademola

The Federal Government has filed an appeal against the decision of Justice Jude Okeke upholding the no case submission in the corruption case against Justice Adeniyi Ademola, his wife Olabowale and Joe Agi.

A source in the Presidency confirmed this development to State House correspondents in Abuja on Thursday.

The source stated that filing the appeal was informed by the need to save the war against corruption.

The source revealed that the government, through the Ministry of Justice, had also filed a fresh case in the Code of Conduct Tribunal against Justice Ademola and wife “for living above their means and failure to declare their assets.’’

Recall that Justice Okeke of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, on Wednesday, upheld the no case submission by the defence in the corruption case against Justice Adeniyi Ademola, Olabowale and Joe Agi.

The judge struck out the 18-count charge preferred 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.

However, sources in the Presidency informed State House Correspondents that the government had been advised to appeal against what is described as “a very strange outcome indeed considering the underlying facts.

“It is even stranger that the trial was not allowed to continue considering the applicable statutory provisions.

Section 53 (1) of the ICPC Act raises a 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 (SAN), into the account of Olabowale Ademola, the wife of Justice Ademola. 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 source narrated.

The source added that the evidence of the defence suggesting that the source of the money was not 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 Agi’s client to the tune of about $637 million. Prior to this, it was also not disputed that Justice Ademola’s son had received a BMW vehicle worth about N8,500,000 from Agi.

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 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,’’ the source continued.

According to sources, within the prosecution, the ruling suggests that the learned trial judge proceeded to ascribe probative value to the evidence of prosecution witnesses at the stage of a 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.

“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 source maintained that the ruling 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.

The source said this and other troubling questions must be addressed in an appeal against the ruling.

When contacted for official comments of the presidency, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu denied the existence of a rift between the Executive and Judicial arms of government over this issue and other recent judicial decisions posing a challenge to the war against corruption.

According to him, the relationship between the two arms of government has been very cordial, adding that nothing has happened to change the nature of the relationship.