Justice Yunusa admits to taking N1.5m from SAN - EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday, January 26, told the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja that Justice Yunusa confirmed the payment when he was interrogated by the Commission in 2016.

This was disclosed by Mr. Danladi Daniel, an investigator with the EFCC, when he appeared as a prosecution witness before Justice Aishat Opesanwo.

On February 16, 2016, the EFCC arraigned Tarfa on two counts before the judge, alleging that hid two suspects of financial crimes in his Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) on the premises of the Lagos State High Court in Igbosere in order to prevent the operatives of the Commission from arresting them.

While hiding the suspects - Gnahouse Nazaire and Senoue Modeste – Tarfa allegedly called Justice Yunusa on the phone to pervert the course of justice.

Tarfa pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Daniel, who analysed the calls made by Tarfa with his two mobile phones, told the court at the resumed hearing on Thursday that the SAN had an unprofessional relationship with Justice Yunusa.

He said Tarfa habitually communicated with the judge even when he had cases before the judge.

Tarfa's two mobile phones, which were seized by the EFCC on February 5, 2016, were tendered in evidence against the SAN and marked as exhibits P7 and P8 by Justice Opesanwo on Thursday.

ALSO READ: 'EFCC out to embarrass me,' Tarfa says

The anti-graft agency tendered the certified true copies of two separate judgments delivered by Justice Yunusa on September 8, 2015 and September 15, 2015.

Justice Opesanwo also admitted the judgments and marked them as Exhibits P5 and P6 respectively.

The witness said: "On February 5, 2016, two phones – a Samsung Galaxy phone and an IPhone – belonging to Tarfa were given to me by the commission to analyse.

"I gave the defendant two telephone forensic forms to fill which he did and appended his signature in my presence.

"Part of the result of the analysis showed that the defendant was in the habit of making his cases go before Justice Yunusa.

"Results confirmed that there were communications between the defendant, his colleagues in the office and staff of the court.

"When cases were pending before Justice Yinusa, particularly in the month of May 2015, a member of staff from the defendant's office, named Esther, made a cash deposit of N1.5m into Yunusa’s account."

He further said: "Justice Yunusa was invited by the investigators sometime in 2016; he honoured the invitation and was interviewed on the reason for the payment of the N1.5m into his account.

"The judge confirmed that some money was paid into his account but he could not remember when it was paid.

"He went further to put his statement into writing."

However, in an affidavit filed by Tarfa in February 2016, he only gave Justice Yunusa the sum of N225, 000, which he said was a contribution by him and some friends of Yunusa towards the funeral rites of his father-in-law, Audi Damasa.

He said they made the donation since they could not physically attend the funeral ceremony in Maiduguri, Borno State.