Court convicts Nwobike for perversion of justice

AN Ikeja High Court yesterday sentenced a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dr. Joseph Nwobike, to 30 days imprisonment for attempt to pervert the course of justice.

Justice Raliat Adebiyi, in a lengthy four-hour judgment, convicted Nwobike of 12 out of an 18-count charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Each of the 18 charges carried a maximum sentence of two years.

The judge found Nwobike’s behaviour  “unbecoming of a senior member of the bar”.

“The evidence against the defendant is damning. The court finds that the behaviour of the defendant is unbecoming.

“Why does the defendant, a senior member of the bar with juniors and other lawyers have the need to personally liaise with court registrars?

“The court finds that the prosecution was able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant perverted the course of justice by sending text messages to court registrars,” she said.

After the judgment was read, Mr. Olawale Akoni (SAN), Nwobike’s lawyer, in his allocutus, asked the court to temper justice with mercy.

“The fact that the defendant is a first-time offender who has never had any brush with the law before until now.

“He is a senior member of the bar, who has conducted himself appropriately, he has run a law firm which has quite a number of practitioners, he is a family man with aged parents and children.

“Your Lordship, we listened to your judgment carefully and ask that a non-custodial sentence be appropriate.

“He has a lot to offer and I pray that Your Lordship considers this in deciding the nature of punishment to give.

“I pray the court tempers justice with mercy and impose a very heavy slap on the wrist,” Akoni pleaded.

EFCC Prosecutor Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo asked for the appropriate sentence for the SAN.

“Section 97 (3) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011, says that he will be liable for two years imprisonment.

“Ordering Your Lord for a non-custodial sentence will amount to turning the law upside down.

“The sentence should serve as a deterrent to young lawyers like myself, SANs and other Senior members of the bar, ” he said.

In considering the plea for leniency, Justice Adebiyi stated that Nwobike, being a senior advocate, has brought shame to the legal profession.

On the allegation of offering gratification to Justice Mohammed Yunusa with the aim of influencing the outcome of his cases, the judge held that EFCC failed to prove that the N750,000 given to Justice Yunusa actually influenced any case before him.

The judge also held that the EFCC failed to prove the allegation that the defendant gave false information to its official during its investigation.

The EFCC had alleged that Nwobike offered N750,000 gratification to Justices  Yunusa and N300,000 to Hyeladzira Nganjiwa. The two judges are of the Federal High Court.

The commission claimed that Nwobike offered money to the two judges to pervert the course of justice.

The EFCC had also alleged that Nwobike at several occasions sent text messages to one Jide, a Federal High Court official, with instruction to ensure certain case he filed should be assigned to a specific judge.

He was also alleged to have made false statement to the EFCC in the course of their investigation.

The judge held that Nwobike deliberately attempt to pervert the course of justice by sending text message to a judicial official with instruction to influence the assignment of several cases to Justice Yunusa.

She, however, stated that in sentencing the defendant, the court considered the fact that he has no previous criminal record, his comportment in court and other factors in reducing the two years prescribed jail term to 30 days in prison.

Although Justice Adebiyi held that there was no concrete evidence by the EFCC to prove the serious offence of perversion of justice, she held that the fact the six out of the ten cases which Nwobike requested to be assigned preferred judges, showed a deliberate attempt to pervert the course of justice.

“It is curious that six out of the 10 cases filed were assigned as suggested by the defendant to Jide in spite of the fact the he is not an assigning authority.

“In proving the ingredient of attempt to pervert justice, act must be immediately connected to an attempt. From the evidence before me, it is clear that the defendant attempted to pervert the course of justice. He is accordingly convicted,” she held.

She observed that Nwobike was obviously motivated by the zeal for  success and the will to succeed at all cost and that this was why he engaged in unlawful acts.

Justice Adebiyi emphasised that Nwobike’s conviction should send a signal about the seriousness of the government to fight corruption.

 

The man Nwobike

Dr. Joseph Nwobike (SAN) studied law at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). He was called to Bar in December 1992. He obtained a Master of Laws (LL.M) degree from (UNILAG) in 1995.

He attended the Obafemi Awolowo University and American University of London between 1999 and 2005, where he obtained a PhD in law, specialising in Mergers and Acquisition in Nigeria.

His law firm was established in 1995 to provide a wide range of professional legal services. The firm’s broad range of clients include banks, publicly quoted and private limited liability companies, local governments, federal and state government agencies, parastatals manufacturers, stockbrokers, among others.

Its areas of practice are general litigation, arbitration, receivership & insolvency, corporate restructuring/turnaround, intellectual property, mergers and acquisition, taxation, legislative drafting, company secretarial practice and admiralty.

Others are investment and securities law, tax law, perfection and registration of proprietary interest in lands, mortgages, oil and gas laws and insurance law.

Dr. Nwobike is a Fellow of the African Business School, Abuja; Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Local Government and Public Administration of Nigeria; Fellow, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) and Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK).

He is an Associate Member, Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners of Nigeria (BRIPAN) and Assessor, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (lCAN).

A member of the International Tax Planning Association, Dr. Nwobike also has a Post-Graduate Diploma in International Arbitration (UK).

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