Another Nigerian judge charged for corruption

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria

Nigeria late Monday filed a 15-count corruption charge against federal high court justice Adeniyi Ademola, one week after similar charges were slapped on a Supreme Court justice, both of whom were among seven judges recently arrested for alleged corruption.

Justice Ademola was charged alongside his wife Olabowale Toluwatope Ademola, head of civil servants in the southwestern Lagos state, for “corruptly” receiving $1,227,000 from lawyers and litigants between 2013 and 2016, among other charges. His wife was accused of serially receiving bribes on behalf of her husband.

Justice Ademola is the second judge to be charged in a week. Supreme Court justice Sylvester Ngwuta was charged on Nov. 8 with corruption, money laundering and age falsification.

The two judges are among the seven top justices who were arrested early October on charges of corruption. Secret police said over $800,000 in foreign and local currencies were recovered during night raids on their houses.

All the judges have since been suspended pending their trial. No date has been fixed for the hearings.