Court of Appeal to hear doctor’s challenge to conviction March 10

The Court of Appeal in Lagos has scheduled March 10, 2026, to hear an appeal filed by  Ferdinand Ejike Orji, Medical Director of Excel Medical Centre, challenging his conviction and one-year jail sentence by the Lagos State High Court.

The appellate court will also hear a cross appeal by the Lagos State Government seeking to set aside the portion of the judgment that discharged and acquitted  Orji on Count 1 of the six-count amended charge.

The state is asking the court to convict and sentence him on that count as well.

A three-member panel of the appellate court, presided over by Justice Yargata Nimpar, yesterday, adjourned the case to allow the respondent (the state government) file its response to the motion by the appellant.

Other members of the panel are Justices Danlami Zama Senchi and Abdulazeez Muhammed Anka.

IJustice Adedayo Akintoye of the Lagos High Court,  Tafawa Balewa Square, had on January 20, 2023, convicted Orji on four of the six counts filed against him and sentenced him to one year imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently.

The prosecution alleged that the doctor’s negligence led to complications that permanently damaged the boy’s leg and ended his dream of pursuing a basketball career in the United States.

Justice Akintoye found the doctor guilty on Counts 2, 3, 4 and 6 but discharged and acquitted him on Counts 1 and 5.

The judge noted that the patient was under Dr. Orji’s medical care and that his actions endangered the boy’s life.

Consequently, the court sentenced the doctor to one year imprisonment on each of the four counts, to run concurrently.

Dissatisfied with the decision,  Orji filed a notice of appeal seeking to overturn his conviction and sentence.

He argued that the prosecution failed to prove criminal intent, a critical element of the alleged offences and that since the court found no intent in Count 1, the same reasoning should have applied to the other counts.

He urged the Court of Appeal to set aside his conviction on Counts 2, 3, 4 and 6 and quash the judgment delivered by the trial court.

The state, however, has urged the appellate court to dismiss the appeal, insisting that the evidence before the trial court proved the offences beyond reasonable doubt.