The Supreme Court reversed the conviction of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Joseph Nwobike on Monday 20th December, 2021.
Justice Raliatu Adebiyi, a Lagos High Court Judge, convicted Joseph Nwobike in 2018, on 12 of the 18 counts brought against him. The 18 counts which were brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), were based on attempts at perversion of the Court of Justice.
Justice Adebiyi sentenced the defendant Joseph Nwobike to 30 days in prison.
“The message to the society is that no one is above the law. The court however grants a light sentence. He is hereby sentenced to 1 month of 30 days.” Justice Adebiyi said
Joseph Nwobike became a Notary Public for Nigeria in 1999 and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2009.
The judge stated that the degree of culpability on the part of the defendant was considerable. Therefore the sentence is given in order to condemn the unlawful act. She also said that the sentence would serve as discouragement to other parties.
Some of the claims by the Electoral and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), were that he had given bribe to Justice Mohammed Nasir Yunusa, and contacted a judicial official to manipulate the outcome of a number of court cases. He was also accused of giving 250,000 naira to Ronke Ogunleye, who is a registrar to a federal judge. He confessed to gifting 750,000 naira to Justice M. N. Yunusa, this he claimed to have done in order to aid in his mother’s treatments.
In relation to his conviction, Joseph Nwobike was stripped of the title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He would then seek to turn the verdict around, by appealing his case. The Court of Appeal would instead uphold the conviction.
The Court of Appeal held that the conviction was sound, and in line with Section 97(3) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State. The Senior Advocate would subsequently accuse the lesser courts of being unjust.
The verdict was eventually reversed on Monday 20th of December, 2021, when a Supreme Court panel of five members was assembled. The hearing was presided over by Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.
The Supreme Court held that the initial judgment by the High Court of Lagos was faulty, and also discredited the judgment of the appeal court in upholding the conviction. The court in its judgment also stated that the Economic and Financial Crimes commission did not have the power to investigate and arraign anyone for perversion of justice.
The court therefore gave a counteracting judgment, revoking the conviction.