Graft charge: Justice Yunusa ordered stand-tria

An Ikeja Special Offences Court yesterday dismissed a preliminary objection filed by a suspended judge of the Federal High Court in Lagos, Justice Mohammed Yunusa, and ordered the embattled judge to stand trial for alleged corruption.

Yunusa’s defence counsel, Chief Robert Clarke, had on March 9, in a preliminary objection, said the embattled judge had been “absolved of the corruption charges” by the National Judicial Council (NJC) and should therefore not be tried. Citing the case of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Vs Nganjiwa, Clarke had argued that for Yunusa’s dismissal to be valid, President Muhammadu Buhari, had to give a recommendation for his suspension. Justice Sherifat Solebo, in a two-hour ruling, however, dismissed the objection.

“I do not think that the defendant is a sitting judge having been suspended; I thereby agree that prosecution cannot be brought until the NJC exercises its disciplinary powers against a judicial offi cer. “Going through Nganjiwa’s case there is no evidence that the NJC investigated Nganjiwa, but in the case against the first defendant (Yunusa) the NJC on its 76th meeting investigated him. “What is left to be done? The NJC has done what it is empowered to do, it is my decision that I am not bound by Nganjiwa Vs Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“It is my conclusion that the first defendant has to defend himself in the information fi led by the prosecution. “It is my decision that this court has jurisdiction on the charges fi led against the first defendant in this case and the notice of preliminary objection is dismissed.” Apparently elated by the ruling, the prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, Mr. Wahab Shittu, thanked the judge for her decision.

“I thank My Lord for this ruling; this is an uncommon display of judicial courage. This cannot be called judicial rascality, we commend this ruling,” he said. EFCC had arraigned Yunusa, formerly a judge of the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court, alongside Esther Agbo, a staff of the law chambers of Mr. Rickey Tarfa on January 17.

Yunusa was arraigned on four counts bordering on an attempted perversion of justice and corruption by a public official, while Agbo was charged with offering gratification to a public official. They, however, denied the charges.

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