Justice Adedayo Akintoye of the Lagos State High Court in Igbosere on Friday demanded a fresh medical report on the health status of Mr. Rickey Tarfa (SAN), who was accused of giving gratification to judges to pervert the course of justice.
The judge’s demand for fresh medical report followed an application by Tarfa’s lawyer,
The judge said before Tarfa’s application could be heard, the defence needed to furnish the court with a medical report on the SAN from a general hospital or a teaching hospital.
She then adjourned the matter till June 21.
In the last couple of proceedings, Tarfa had not shown up in the courtroom.
His lawyer said as a result of a back injury he was unable to climb the staircase to the courtroom and had remained in his Sports Utility Vehicle in the court’s car park.
To enable him to enter the court, Justice Akintoye had on Friday moved to a courtroom on the ground floor.
But still, Tarfa did not enter the courtroom.
His lawyer said he was around in his SUV with a physiotherapist.
He urged the court to grant him time to recuperate from surgery before proceeding with the trial.
But the judge said before such an application could be granted she needed to see a fresh medical report on Tarfa.
In the charges against him, Tarfa was accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of offering gratification to some judges to allegedly pervert the course of justice.
The anti-graft agency alleged, for instance, that Tarfa offered N5.3m gratification to a judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa, in order to compromise the judge.
The anti-graft agency claimed that Tarfa transferred the money in several tranches to the judge between June 27, 2012, and December 23, 2014.
The EFCC also alleged in the 27 counts that the SAN lied about his age and failed to declare his asset to the commission upon his arrest on February 5, 2015.
The EFCC prosecution told the court that Tarfa violated Section 64 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, No.11, 2011.
But Tarfa pleaded not guilty to all the counts.
