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Tag: Judge

  • Urhobo son emerges top judge in United States [Photos]

    Urhobo son emerges top judge in United States [Photos]

    Edirin Okoloko, a judge of the Snohomish County Superior Court in Washington DC, USA has emerged as the overall best in a members rating conducted by the Snohomish County Bar Association.

    Okoloko, a native of Delta state came ahead of six other judges with an average result of 4.12 in press release by the Snohomish County Bar members newsletter.

    The release reads “Introducing our top two Superior Court judges per member ratings in 2021. Judge Langbehn and Judge Okoloko”.

    “Those pictured here had the highest averages. An honourable mention also goes out to our highest scoring commissioner, Patricia Nelson. A special thank you to the fearless SCBA board for tabulating these results”.

    Okoloko’s results is as follows: Decision making Average 4.03, median 4.00; Efficiency average 3.81, median 4.00; Demeanour average 4.47, median 5.00; Impartiality average 4.15, median 5.00. overall performance average 4.12 median 4.00.

    Judge Okoloko was appointed by Governor Jay Inslee to fill a vacant seat on Snohomish County Superior Court bench in January 2020 after the retirement of Judge Linda C. Krese.

    The governor previously appointed Okoloko to the Snohomish County Superior Court in September 2018 and he took office in October. He lost a close retention election in November 2019.

    Prior to his judicial service, Okoloko served for 13 years as a Snohomish County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, where he prosecuted cases involving homicides, sexual assaults, child abuse, elder abuse, and other violent and property related crimes.

  • Judge orders man to hug wife in court

    Judge orders man to hug wife in court

    A Sharia Court sitting in Magajin Gari, Kaduna State, on Tuesday ordered a man, Yusuf Maiwada, to hug his wife, Nafisa Jibril in court.

    The Judge, Nuhu Falalu said:”lack of affection from Maiwada prompted his wife to seek divorce”.

    The Judge also ordered him to give his wife money in the court.

    ”The court orders you to bring her and their three children back to his house and pay for their feeding in arrears,” he said.

    He adjourned the case until Sept. 9, for report of settlement and compliance of his orders by the defendant.

    Earlier, the complainant, Jibril in her petition sought divorce because he has failed to provide for the family.

    Jibril also alleged that Maiwada beat her and ordered her out of his house and to take her children along.

  • Judge orders all action against Super League clubs be dropped

    Judge orders all action against Super League clubs be dropped

    A Madrid judge has ordered all financial and legal sanctions brought against the 12 clubs involved in the attempted Super League breakaway to be cancelled with immediate effect.

    The Daily Mail reports Judge Manuel Ruiz de Lara, who presides over a commercial court in Madrid, has taken aim at UEFA, the Premier League and Italian Serie A, claiming they attempted to ‘annihilate’ his attempts to defend the European Super League clubs in April.

    The clubs involved were Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham.

    In that first ruling on April 20, the judge declared UEFA must not threaten clubs wanting to participate in the Super League or do anything that might deter them from joining.

    However, that has not stopped UEFA and the Premier League reaching ‘agreements’ with nine of the errant clubs, which will result in them accepting financial sanctions and future penalties.

    And it has also done nothing to prevent UEFA from opening a disciplinary investigation into the three remaining rebel clubs, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus, which have refused to recant.

    Bu Judge Ruiz de Lara stated in his ruling: “These actions… constitute a flagrant violation of the order… of 20 April 2021.

    “These are not isolated acts (…) but a succession of acts and statements forming part of a strategy devised by the defendants with the aim of provoking the ineffectiveness of a court decision.

    “The opening of disciplinary proceedings against Real Madrid, Juventus and Barcelona constitutes a clear breach of the interim measures granted by the Order of 20 April 2021.”

    In his ruling, Judge Ruiz de Lara, has instructed UEFA that the three unrepentant clubs must be allowed to compete in the Champions League next season.

    He has also told UEFA to abandon all disciplinary action against the three rebels, or risk “serious financial and criminal sanctions”. Under Spanish law anyone ignoring a court order could face up to one year in prison.

    In addition, the nine clubs that abandoned the ill-fated project within two days of its launch, which includes the six English clubs and Inter Milan, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid, should be freed from the ‘agreement’ they made with UEFA in the aftermath of the scheme.

    This includes an obligation to pay £13 million to a solidarity fund, forgo five percent of income from European competition next year and pay a £86 million penalty if they ever try to join a Super League again,

    The judge then directed his fury at the Premier League, insisting that UEFA has to tell the English top flight that all actions against the Big Six – Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea – must be ‘annulled’.

  • Serving Federal High Court judge dies of undisclosed ailment in Abeokuta

    Serving Federal High Court judge dies of undisclosed ailment in Abeokuta

    A judge of the Federal High Court, serving in the court’s Abeokuta (Ogun State) division, Justice Ibrahim Watila, is died.

    According to a statement on Tuesday by the court’s Chief Information Officer, Catherine Oby Nwandu, Justice Watila died on January 24 “after a brief illness.”

    The court was silent on the cause of death.

    Part of the statement reads: “The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Hon. Justice John Terhemba Tsoho regrets to announce the demise of Hon. Justice Ibrahim Watila, a judge of this honourable Court who passed on to glory after a brief illness on the 24th January 2021.

    “Until his death, Justice Watila was serving at the Abeokuta Division of the court. Born on the 12th May 1963 and was appointed to the Federal High Court Bench on the 2nd December 2015.

    “The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Judges of the Court, the entire Management and staff of the Court commiserate with the family of the deceased.

    “Justice Tsoho described the late Judge as a sober and courageous judge, whose exit will be felt by the court, as well as the country at large.

    “He prayed that the Almighty GOD will grant his immediate family, relatives and friends the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

    “The burial arrangements are as follow: Wake keep: Wednesday, 27th January 2021 at his residence C13, Herbert Macauley Street, Pent House Estate, Pyakkasa, Abuja by 3.00 pm

    “Valedictory Court Session: Thursday 28th January 2021 at 11.00am prompt at the Ukeje Hall, Federal High Court Headquarters, Abuja.

    “Interment: Saturday, 30th January 2021 at Marama, Hawul Local Government Area, Borno State.”

  • Gov. Fayemi appoints Perm Sec as Judge of Ekiti High Court

    Gov. Fayemi appoints Perm Sec as Judge of Ekiti High Court

    Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, on Sunday appointed Mr Adeniyi Familoni, a Lawyer and current Permanent Secretary, Bureau of Chieftaincy Affairs, as Judge of the High court of Ekiti State.

    The appointment followed the recommendation of the National Judicial Council, which found Familoni suitable for appointment, the government said.

    Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Olayinka Oyebode, made this known in a statement on Sunday, in Ado-Ekiti.

    Oyebode said Familoni began his career as a Legal Officer in the then old Ondo State Ministry of Justice in 1996, and later, Ekiti State Ministry of Justice.

    During his service years in the Ekiti justice ministry, Familoni, at various times held offices such as the Director, Law Review, Director Citizens Rights, Director Civil Litigations and Director Public Prosecutions, he said in the statement.

    He was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ekiti State Civil Service in April, 2019 and posted to Bureau of Chieftaincy Affairs, it said.

    According to the statement, Fayemi is set to formally swear in Familoni on Tuesday, at the Conference Hall of the Governor’s Office.

  • Gunmen kill two female Supreme Court judges

    Gunmen kill two female Supreme Court judges

    Unidentified gunmen killed two female judges from Afghanistan’s Supreme Court on Sunday morning, police said, adding to a wave of assassinations in Kabul and other cities while government and Taliban representatives have been holding peace talks in Qatar.

    The two judges, who have not yet been named, were killed and their driver wounded, in an attack at around 8:30 am, police said, adding the case was being investigated by security forces.

    A spokesman for the Taliban said its fighters were not involved.

    Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued a statement condemning attacks on civilians by the Taliban and other militant groups.

    Ghani said “terror, horror and crime” was not a solution to Afghanistan’s problem and beseeched the Taliban to accept “a permanent ceasefire”.

    Government officials, journalists, and activists have been targeted in recent months, stoking fear particularly in the capital Kabul.

    The Taliban has denied involvement in some of the attacks, but has said its fighters would continue to “eliminate” important government figures, though not journalists or civil society members.

    Rising violence has complicated U.S.-brokered peace talks taking place in Doha as Washington withdraws troops.

    Sources on both sides say negotiations are only likely to make substantive progress once U.S. President-elect Joe Biden takes office and makes his Afghan policy known.

    The number of U.S troops in Afghanistan has been reduced to 2,500, the lowest level of American forces there since 2001, according to the Pentagon on Friday.

  • Judge who declared Shonekan’s interim government illegal in 1993 is dead

    Judge who declared Shonekan’s interim government illegal in 1993 is dead

    A former judge of the Lagos High Court, Justice Dolapo Funlola Akinsanya, who on November 10, 1993, declared the Interim National Government (ING) of Chief Ernest Shonekan illegal, is dead.

    Justice Akinsanya died on Thursday in Lagos at the age of 79.

    Akinsanya was born on February 24, 1941, to the family of the late Prof Sanya Onabamiro, a First Republic Minister in the old Western Region.

    She was in private legal practice between 1966 and 1976 before she joined the Lagos State Ministry of Justice as a Senior Legal Officer. She rose through the ranks as Assistant Director Civil Litigation, Secretary/Legal Adviser, LSDPC, and Director, Civil Litigation, before being appointed a judge of the High Court of Lagos State on October 31, 1989.

    In declaring the ING illegal in the famous judgement, Akinsanya had said: “President Babangida has no legitimate power to sign a decree after August 26, 1993, after his exit, so the decree is void and of no effect.”

    She ordered that a civilian constitution, which was drawn up under Babangida in 1989 but never implemented, go into effect.

    With the judgment, the legality of the ING was determined. The late Gen Sanni Abacha later seized power in a coup shortly afterwards.

    Gen Babangida left government on August 26, 1993, and handed over to the ING headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan.

    Chief M.K.O .Abiola who had, won the June 12,1993 presidential election which was annulled by Babangida, challenged the handover of power to the ING.

    Justice Akinsanya retired from the La

  • $10m debt: Judge declines Shoprite’s application to set aside restraining order

    $10m debt: Judge declines Shoprite’s application to set aside restraining order

    A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria on Monday refused to hear an application filed to lift an order of injunction restraining South African retail outlet, Shoprite Checkers (PTY) Limited, from transferring its assets.

    The presiding vacation Judge, Justice Nicholas Oweibo, said that the matter was not urgent enough to be heard during the vacation period.

    Shoprite is seeking to overturn a July 14, 2020 order of injunction made by Justice Mohammed Liman of the same court jurisdiction in favour of a Nigerian Company, A.I.C. Limited.

    A.I.C. Limited, in 2018 secured a $10m judgment against Shoprite in a breach of contract suit, it obtained the order of injunction base on information that Shoprite was about to pull out of Nigeria.

    Justice Liman restrained Shoprite “from transferring, assigning, charging, disposing of its trademark, franchise and intellectual property in a manner that will alter, dissipate or remove these non-cash assets and other assets, including but not limited to trade receivables, trade payables, payment for purchase of merchandise, from within the jurisdiction of this honourable court.”

    Justice Liman also mandated the second respondent, Retail Supermarket Nigeria Limited, “to disclose its audited financial statements for the years ending 2018 and 2019 to enable the judgment creditor/applicant to determine the judgment debtor’s/respondent’s funds in its custody in order to preserve same in satisfaction of the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Appeal No: CA/L/288/2018.”

    The $10 million judgment was in 2018 entered in favour of A.I.C. Limited against Shoprite by Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja.

    Dissatisfied, the company appealed the judgment, but the appellate court affirmed the judgment of the lower court.

    Thereafter Shoprite lodged appeal at the Supreme Court.

  • Novak Djokovic disqualified from U.S. Open

    Novak Djokovic disqualified from U.S. Open

    World number one Novak Djokovic was sensationally disqualified in the U.S. Open fourth round on Sunday in New York after striking a line judge with a ball.

    This was after a point loss during the first set of his match against Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta.

    Djokovic was becoming frustrated after failing to take the opening set.

    After suffering a fall and having dropped serve to trail 5-6, he hit a ball reasonably hard to the back of the court, striking a female line judge.

    He immediately apologised and stood over her before becoming involved in a lengthy exchange with the tournament referee.

    Under the rules of the game there is no option other than a default.

    In spite of Djokovic’s pleadings that he had not meant to hit the official, he was eventually disqualified.

    Djokovic shook hands with a stunned Carreno Busta and trudged off to face the music.

    It was an incredible end to the top seed’s hopes of winning an 18th Grand Slam title — something that had looked increasingly likely as the fortnight progressed.

    “It’s the right decision,” Tim Henman, who was disqualified from Wimbledon for a similar incident in 1995, said.

    “He was not aiming for the line judge, but has hit the ball away and you have to be responsible for your actions.”

  • JUST IN: Judge who dismissed Atiku’s Petition against Buhari’s election elevated to Supreme Court

    JUST IN: Judge who dismissed Atiku’s Petition against Buhari’s election elevated to Supreme Court

    The Chairman of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), which upheld President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term election, Justice Mohammed L. Garba, has been elevated to the Supreme Court.

    Justice Garba (from the North-West geo-political zone), who is currently of the Court of Appeal, is among the four Justices of the court the National Judicial Council (NJC), at its meeting on August 11 and 12 August this year, recommended to President Buhari for appointment as Justices of the Supreme Court.

    The other three are Justices Tijjani Abubakar (from the North-East Zone); Justice Abdu Aboki (North-West Zone) and Mohammed M. Saulawa (North-west Zone).

    The NJC, in a statement by its spokesman, Soji Oye, also recommended 18 others for appointment as judges of other courts

    They are Justice Gumna Kashim Kaigama, recommended for appointment as the Chief Judge of Yobe State; Kadi Muhammed Abubakar (recommended for appointment as Grand Kadi of Sharia Court of Appeal, Katsina State) and Justice Mathew Emeka Njoku (as the President, Customary Court of Appeal, Imo State.

    The NJC recommended the appointment of six lawyers as judges of the High Court of Kano State.
    They are: Jamilu Shehu Suleiman, Maryam Ahmen Sabo, Sanusi Ado Ma’aji, Abdu Maiwada Abubakar, Zuwaira Yusuf and. Hafsat Yahaya Sani.

    As judges of the High Court of Taraba State, the NJC recommended the appointment of Clara Jummai Kataps and Kazera Blessing Kodiya.