BEVERLY HILLS, April 06, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government has filed an appeal against the ruling of Justice Jude Okeke of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court which upheld the no case submission filed by Justice Adeniyi Ademola, Mrs. Olabowale Ademola and Mr. Joe Agi (SAN).
The trio were arraigned for corruption by the federal government but the judge struck out the 18-count charge 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 Act (ICPC Act).
The 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.
THEWILL gathered that the federal government through, the Ministry of Justice, has also filed a fresh case in the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) against Justice Ademola and his wife for living above their means and failure to declare their assets.
The government is basing its case on Section 53(1) of the ICPC Act which 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.
The prosecution witnesses gave testimony of the payment of N30 million in three tranches by Mr. Joe Agi (SAN) 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 source stated.
