Court Adjourns Trial Of Justice Yinusa Till March

The Special Offences Court Sitting in Ikeja, Lagos has fixed March 9 to hear arguments on two preliminary objections filed by Justice Mohammed Yinusa and his co-defendant, Esther Agbo.

In a five Count Charge filed before the court, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday, January 17 arraigned Justice Yinusa.

He was arraigned alongside Esther Agbo, a staff of the Law Firm of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN Rickey Tarfa. Agbo was charged with offering gratification of N1.5million to the judge.

The two defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail at the last sitting of the court.

At the proceedings today, February 20, the two defendants informed the court that they had filed separate preliminary objections to the charges.

But the application of Justice Yinusa specifically challenging the jurisdiction of the court was not ripe for hearing and so Presiding Justice Sherifat Solebo held that she would take the two applications together at the next adjourned date.

The court also allowed the EFCC to substitute its internal counsel with an external counsel, Mr Wahab Shittu.

In 2016, the National Judicial Council (NJC) had recommended the retirement of Justice Yinusa but President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to act on this recommendation. Channels Television gathered that Justice Yinusa has instituted moves to get the NJC to reconsider this decision.