•SAN’s conviction for perverting justice should serve as a deterrent to others like him
The temple of justice is not a market of buyers and sellers. This is the lesson a senior lawyer, Dr. Joseph Nwobike, will hopefully learn from his conviction “for attempting to pervert the course of justice.” He was on April 30 convicted on 12 counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice. He was lucky that the judge, using her discretion, sentenced him to 30 days in prison. The maximum penalty on each count of perverting justice is two years in prison.
Justice Raliat Adebiyi of the Ikeja Division of the Lagos State High Court said: “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.”
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had accused Nwobike of paying N750, 000 into the United Bank for Africa account of Mohammed Yunusa, a federal judge, and N250, 000 to one Ronke Ogunleye, a registrar to another federal judge, Musa Kurya. The commission said the payments were intended to pervert the course of justice.
The EFCC had also accused Nwobike of sending text messages to one Jide, a Federal High Court official, telling him to ensure that certain cases he filed were assigned to a specific judge. Justice Adebiyi noted: “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.”
It is a shame that Nwobike, who became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 2010, after almost 20 years of legal practice, has given his profession a bad name. He followed a path that brought dishonour to himself and his profession. By his professional seniority, he was expected to be an unimpeachable ambassador of the profession.
It was a sign of the times when some lawyers, two years ago, formed a collective of “Concerned Lawyers” to reject negative public perception of lawyers. Led by Femi Falana (SAN), the lawyers took their case to the Lagos office of EFCC where they were received by its acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu. They argued that there were bad lawyers and judges, but there were also good ones; and urged the public not to fall into the fallacy of generalisation.
Cases like Nwobike’s expose the underbelly of the justice system. It is noteworthy there are ongoing trials of fellow senior lawyers – Godwin Obla and Rickey Tarfa – over similar offences before federal and state courts. There is no question that lawyers and judges have a defining duty to keep the temple of justice sacred. When the temple’s sacredness is desecrated, it is the beginning of the end not only for the temple but also for the society that depends on the temple for justice.
There is no room for bad eggs in the temple of justice, and there is no argument for their accommodation. Justice is so socially pivotal that its devaluation is a societal minus; and the temple of justice should be so morally unassailable that only good eggs are allowable.
Nwobike’s punishment should serve as a deterrent. Since it takes two to tango, the judges and other court officials involved in such cases should not go unpunished. Where justice can be bought and sold cannot be called the temple of justice.