Witness: Ofili-Ajumogobia Lied About the Source, Purpose of N8m in Her Account

An investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdullahi Lawal has told a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja how the embattled Federal High Court judge, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, who is standing trial for alleged fraud lied to the commission about the source and purpose of an N8 million found in her account.

Lawal, who is the 12th prosecution witness in the going trial of Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia and a former EFCC prosecutor, Mr. Godwin Obla (SAN) disclosed this yesterday, at the resumed trial of the case before Justice Hakeem Oshodi.

The duo are standing trial on a 30-count charge bordering on perversion of the course of justice, graft, unlawful enrichment, providing false information to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and forgery.

The EFCC had alleged that about $793,800 passed through the judge’s domiciliary accounts between 2012 and 2015.

The judge allegedly used the money to buy a house in London.

In the charge, the anti-graft agency insisted that the defendants also allegedly committed an offence on May 24, 2015, when they conspired to pervert the course of justice with the sum of N5 million.

The said sum, according to the EFCC, was reported to have been transferred to one Nigel & Colive Limited.

The commission maintained that Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia is the sole signatory to Nigel & Colive, adding that both defendants conspired to pervert the course of justice, in contravention of the provisions of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

The EFCC alleged that the N5 million paid by Obla, through his company’s account, was to restrain a public officer from acting in exercise of her official duties.

Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia was equally alleged to have made a false statement to the EFCC that she was on admission at one Gold Cross Hospital at Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi in Lagos, which statement was later found to be false.