A High Court in Abuja has dismissed all 18 count charges against Justice Adeniyi Ademola and his wife, Olubowale and Joe Agi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
Presiding over the court Wednesday, Justice Jude Okeke, discharged the defendants saying the prosecution was unable to make out a prima facie case with respect to any of the counts against them.
The trio had been dragged to court by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation after the Department of State Service’s swooped on the judge’s house on 7 October, 2016.
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Okeke said the case had been based on mere suspicions and speculations built on the fight against corruption which was not enough for court to base its conviction on. He held that the matter would lead to the defendants having to prove their own innocence which is against the provision of the constitution.
He said it was also not proven that the N30 million found in Olubowale’s account was paid by Agi to influence Ademola’s judicial functions. He said the prosecution also failed to specify the particular function to be influenced by the said amount.