A Lagos High Court has quashed a verdict, which convicted an aspirant to the title of Oluwa of Lagos title, Prince Shamsondeen Akibo Oluwa, and three others of conspiracy and forgery.
Justice Modupe Nicol-Clay upheld the argument of the appellants’ counsel Mr Akin Elegbede, that Chief Magistrate A.A. Adesanya erred in conivicting his clients.
Chief Magistrate Adesanya on August 5, 2015 convicted Oluwa, Ismaila Abayomi Oluwa, Tajudeen Ototo Oluwa and Muse Adegboyega Oluwa of forging Lagos State High Court official stamp and the registrar’s signature on a public notice published in The Punch of March 5, 2013.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, the defendants filed an appeal before Justice Nicol-Clay, stating that the lower court was wrong in convicting them.
Elegbede argued that the appellants were consistent in their oral testimony in denying knowledge of the public notice and its publication in the newspaper.
He said none of the prosecution witnesses gave eyewitness account to the effect that the appellants were the authors or makers of the public notice.
Besides, he said there was no eyewitness account that they personally pasted the public notice anywhere or that they were sighted on March 5, 2013 when the offence of conspiracy was alleged to have been committed.
Elegbede submitted further that the trial Chief Magistrate was wrong to have relied on appellants’ statements as if they were confessional statements.
He argued that what the appellants admitted in their statements was that they were parties to the public notice and the publication to the extent that their names were listed as parties in suit no: ID/1420/2010 (Prince Ismaila Abayomi Oluwa and others Vs Mukaila Kolawole Oluwa) relating to Oluwa of Lagos appointment and that the interlocutory injunction captured in the public notice was made by Justice Ibironke O. Harrison of the High Court of Lagos State on February 21, 2013.
In her verdict, Justice Nicol-Clay noted that it was the contention of the prosecution that it was the official stamp of the High Court of Lagos State and the signature of the Principal Registrar of the High Court of Lagos State, which were forged and smuggled into the public notice.
The court, therefore, referred to the evidence of the third prosecution witness, Adeniyi Ezekiel Shola, An Assistant Chief Registrar (ACR), Litigation, Lagos High Court that the signature and official stamp of the High Court were not forged but “lifted” or “smuggled into the public notice.
The court said the failure of the prosecution to call Mrs. A. Akinola, a Registrar of the High Court whose name and signature appeared on the public notice was very fatal to prosecution’s case.
Justice Nicol-Clay held that: “Consequently, there was no iota of evidence of forgery of the official stamp of the High Court and signature of Adeniyi Ezekiel Shola (ACR) in the public notice.
“Having carefully considered the respective submissions of both learned counsel, it is my view that the offence of conspiracy by its nature is often proved by circumstantial evidence, it is seldomly or rarely proved by direct evidence.
“The publication is said to be undated and unsigned. In the eyes of the law, such an undated and unsigned document has no probative value, no evidence value in law. It was not signed by the appellants and one of them, Muse Adegboyega Oluwa, is not listed in it.
“I find myself to be in agreement with the submission of the learned counsel to the appellant that lifting of the genuine stamp or genuine signature of Adeniyi Ezekiel Shola into the public notice is not tantamount to forgery.
“The proper order to make would be to grant this application, the judgment of the trial judge is hereby set aside, the appellants are hereby discharged and acquitted on counts 1 and 2 of the criminal charge of conspiracy and forgery,”Justice Nicol-Clay held.
