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Tag: Judge

  • JUST IN: Justice Ademola resigns as Federal High Court judge

    JUST IN: Justice Ademola resigns as Federal High Court judge

    Justice Adeniyi Ademola has tendered his letter of voluntary retirement from the bench of the Federal High Court.

    The judge was due for his statutory retirement in March 2018 but suddenly turned in his letter of resignation dated December 6, 2017, on Thursday.

    Although his one-paragraph letter was received at the Office of the Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on December 7 (Thursday), the letter stated that his retirement took effect from December 6 (Wednesday).

    The letter did not disclose the reason for the judge’s decision.

    But it was learnt that the National Judicial Council did not act on his previous letter of notice of retirement dated September 25, 2017.

    It was addressed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the National Judicial Council, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

    The letter indicated that the NJC would receive the letter through the Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdu Kafarati.

    Titled, ‘Letter of voluntary retirement’, the letter read, “I hereby voluntarily retire from the bench of the Federal High Court with effect from December 6, 2017.”

    The footnote of the letter added, “This letter supersedes my previous notice of retirement from the Federal High Court of Nigeria dated 25/09/2017”.

    The decision of the judge was a sudden one as he had only some days ago fixed Thursday for judgment in a terrorism case.

    The letter also came at a time the National Judicial Council, which had been considering a petition sent against him, is having a two-day meeting which commenced on Wednesday.

    Earlier on Thursday, lawyers, journalists and the defendants facing the terrorism charges scheduled for judgment, were turned back byJustice Ademola’s court’s officials.

    One of the officials told all lawyers whose cases were scheduled to come up on Thursday to return to the court next week for a new date.

    Justice Ademola was of the judges arrested by the Department of State Service last year October.

    He was subsequently prosecuted alongside his wife, Olubowale,‎ and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria on gratification charges.

    But the trio were exonerated by the trial court after upholding their no-case submission earlier this year.

  • JUST IN: A’Court judge withdraws from Patience Jonathan’s $5.9m suit

    JUST IN: A’Court judge withdraws from Patience Jonathan’s $5.9m suit

    One of the three justices assigned to hear the appeal filed by former first lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan to discharge a court order which temporarily seized the sum of $5.9m found in her Skye Bank account on Wednesday withdrew from the case.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports the three-man appeal court panel, comprising Justices John Ikyeh, Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo and Abraham Georgewill, had earlier fixed Wednesday to hear the appeal.

    But when the case was called on Wednesday morning, Justice Ikyeh, who presided over the panel, told the counsel on both sides that the appeal could no longer be heard as one of the three justices had decided to withdraw for personal reasons.

    Justice Ikyeh, however, did not mention the name of the member of the panel who withdrew but said the appeal had to be further adjourned in the circumstances.

    “One of us is going to recuse himself from this case for personal reasons, so we are not complete. Two of us cannot make a quorum. So, we’ll give you a date,” Justice Ikyeh said.

    In the circumstances, counsel for the Economic and Financial Commission, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, urged the appellate court to fix a new date during the court’s long vacation which would last till September.

    Oyedepo said the EFCC, which is seeking a court order permanently forfeiting Patience’s $5.9m to the Federal Government, had been handicapped because the Federal High Court in Lagos, which is hearing the case, had already stayed proceedings to await the decision of the Court of Appeal.

    But Justice Ikyeh reiterated that nothing could be done because two justices could not form a quorum.

    “We can’t write anything because we are incomplete. One of us cannot sit over this appeal,” he said.

    The case was subsequently adjourned till September 18, 2017, after the court’s vacation.

    Patience, through her lawyer, Chief Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), is urging the Court of Appeal to overturn an April 26, 2017 interim order of Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court in Lagos, who ordered that the $5.9m found in her Skye Bank account should be temporarily forfeited to the Federal Government.

    The forfeiture order was made in favour of the EFCC, which took an ex parte application before the judge.

    Apart from Patience’s personal account with $5.9m, the court also froze a number of accounts linked with her including an Ecobank account, with a balance of N2.4bn, opened in the name of one La Wari Furniture and Bath Limited.

    In a supporting affidavit attached to the ex parte application, the EFCC told Justice Olatoregun that the funds were suspected to be proceeds of Patience’s alleged criminal activities.

    An EFCC operative, Musbahu Abubakar, who deposed to the affidavit, stated that Patience opened the Skye Bank account on February 7, 2013, and used it to allegedly warehouse proceeds of crime.

    According to Abubakar, the former first lady made several cash deposits in United States dollar into the account, through a former Special Assistant to ex-President Jonathan, Waripamo-Owei Dudafa, and a State House steward, Festus Iyoha.

    He said as of January 30, 2015, the Skye Bank account had a balance of $6.7m but Patience subsequently withdrew it down to $5.9m.

    The EFCC had prayed the court to urgently freeze the account so as to prevent Patience for moving the funds.

    Justice Olatoregun had then granted the interim forfeiture order and adjourned till May 22, 2017, for anyone interested in the funds to appear before her to show cause why the funds should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.

    On May 22, Patience’s lawyer, Adedipe, appeared in court in company with counsel for La Wari Furniture and Bath Limited, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), and told Justice Olatoregun that their clients had appealed the temporary forfeiture order.

    They urged the judge to suspend further proceedings pending the outcome of the appeal.

    They argued that it would be disrespectful for Justice Olatoregun to proceed with the case after the appeal had been entered and the appellate court had issued a hearing notice.

    Justice Olatoregun had then consequently adjourned the case till September 24, 2017, to give the parties time to “ventilate their views in the appellate court.”‎

     

  • Dasuki: Absence of judge stalls commencement of trial

    Dasuki: Absence of judge stalls commencement of trial

    The absence of Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf on Thursday stalled the trial of former National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Col. Sambo Dasuki in an FCT High Court Maitama.

    Dasuki, NSA to former President Goodluck Jonathan, was arraigned on a 22- count charge, bordering on diversion, conspiracy, bribery, abuse of office and criminal breach of trust involving N19.4 billion.

    Others in the trial are Amb. BashirYuguda, Shuaibu Salisu, a former Director of Finance, Office of the National Security Adviser, Dalhatu Investment Ltd, Sagir Attahiru and Attahiru Bafaarawa, former governor of Sokoto State.

    The judge was unavoidably absent from hearing the case adjourned until Thursday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the court did not sit but the defendants and their counsel were present in court except Dasuki.

    The trial was adjourned until Sept. 27 with the consent of all the counsel in the matter.

    NAN also reports that Dasuki was also arraigned on another 19-count charge bordering on diversion of funds pending in the same court.

    He is being tried alongside Shuaibu Salisu, a former Director of Finance, Office of the National Security Adviser, and Aminu Baba-Kusa ,a former NNPC Executive Director.

    Also being tried were two firms, Acacia Holding Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) preferred the charges against the defendants since 2015.

     

     

    NAN

  • FIFA appoints retired Nigerian judge into Ethics Committee

    A retired Nigerian Judge, Ayotunde Phillip, has been appointed into the newly-constituted FIFA Ethics Committee at the Congress of the world football governing body taking place in Manama, Bahrain.

    The 68-year-old who studied law at the University of Lagos, was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1974 and spent her compulsory National Youth Service Corps year in the then East Central State of Nigeria.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Philip was the fourth female Chief Judge of Lagos State.

    She retired from the High Court Bench in July 2014 upon the attainment of the statutory retirement age of 65 years.

    She had by then served the Lagos State Government for 38 years out of which 20 years were spent on the High Court Bench.

     

  • Warn police against treating courts with levity, Judge tells AGF

    A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday directed the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Abubakar Malami, to warn the police on the consequences of treating courts with levity.

    Justice Gabriel Kolawale who issued the directive said that police as an institution established by law must subject itself to constituted rules.

    Kolawole’s reaction followed the failure of the police to appear in a case of enforcement of fundamental human rights instituted against it and four others by the Incorporated Trustees of the Peace Corps of Nigeria.

    At the resumed hearing of the suit, the Inspector General of Police and the Nigerian Police Force, who are the major defendants in the court action, were not in court and gave no cogent reason.

    The AGF, the National Security Adviser, Department of State Services and its Director-General, who are the other defendants in the suit, were represented by Mr Terhemba Agbe.

    Mr Kanu Agabi, (SAN), Counsel to the Peace Corps and its National Commandant, had urged the court for an order restraining the police from further taking steps against the plaintiffs in the pending court action.

    Agabi had specifically pleaded with the judge to order the police to vacate the corporate headquarters of the Peace Corps in Abuja, which had been sealed off since Feb. 28.

    He also asked for an order of court to facilitate the release of the vehicles and other properties of the corps carted away by the police when the office was invaded.

    Agabi urged the court to allow hearing of the parties in the matter before giving any order.

    Justice Kolawale expressed displeasure over the absence of the police in court without justifiable reason.

    The judge said that the police who were the antagonist in the matter ought to have realised that a case for the enforcement of fundamental human rights ought to be treated with deserved urgency.

    “It is an affront to the court for a party in a pending court action to take any further step in such a manner that may affect the foundation of the case.

    “To take a further step in a pending court matter outside the court is nothing but self help and the consequence of such action is contempt of proceedings,’’ Kolawole said.

    According to him, it would not be in the interest of justice for any of the parties in the matter to resort to self help or impose a “fate accompli” on the court.

    Specifically, the judge said that his ruling should be served on the police through the office of the AGF to enable the police realise the consequences of treating the court with levity.

    He therefore, ordered the AGF and three other defendants to file processes within five days in response to the originating summons of the Peace Corps.

    The court adjourned hearing in the matter until May 15.

     

     

    NAN

  • Judge orders EFCC to retract statement on Dasuki’s aide, suspends trial

    Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court in Abuja has insisted that the trial of Colonel Nicholas Ashinze, a former Aide to Colonel Sambo Dasuki and 7 others in alleged N1.5bn fraud would not be resumed until the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) retracts fully the misrepresentation of the court’s proceedings that the defendants are being tried on N36.8bn fraud.

    The EFCC also wrongly referred to the aide of Dasuki as a retired military officer while Nicholas Ashinze is currently a serving Army Colonel.

    The judge dismissed the oral claim by the counsel to EFCC, Mr Ofem Uket that the anti-graft agency had retracted the offending publication because the lawyer failed to produce any document or evidence before the court to ascertain its claim.

    Justice Kolawole had last adjourned date March 21, 2017, warned EFCC to stop media trial of Nigerians being put on prosecution for any offence and ordered that the alleged N36bn fraud contained in the EFCC Press Statement issued by one Mr. Wilson Uwujare must be retracted.

    The Judge also ordered the news media involved in the alleged offending publication to appear before it and show cause why they should not be disciplined for misrepresenting the court’s proceedings by dishing out falsehood to the general public through the EFCC press statement.

    When the matter was to resume Thursday, counsel to EFCC informed Justice Kolawole that his client had already retracted the offending press statement as contained in some national dailies of April 12, 2017 but however failed to present a copy of the retraction to the court as required by law.

    Uket therefore urged the court to resume the trial of the defendant on the ground that the court order issued against EFCC had fully been complied with.

    However, Mr. Ernest Nwoye, Counsel to Colonel Ashinze stood his ground that the EFCC had not in any ways obeyed and respected the court order on the ground that EFCC has not shown any evidence or placed any document before the court as a prove of compliance.

    The counsel argued that since the court order on the retraction was in writing and duly served on the EFCC, the anti-graft agency must show respect to the court by filing necessary papers and attaching necessary document to show the compliance to the order of the court.

    In the absence of any documentary evidence, Nwoye urged the court not to attach any seriousness to the oral evidence of the prosecution counsel.

    Counsels to other defendants in the matter including the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Paul Irokoro (SAN) aligned themselves with the submissions of Nwoye and urged Justice Kolawole to sustain the order for the retraction until the evidence of compliance with the order has been shown.

    In his ruling Justice Kolowale disagreed with the oral evidence of the EFCC Counsel, lamenting that the counsel as a minister in the temple of justice has not shown any seriousness or do enough to protect the integrity of the judiciary from being unjustly rubbished.

    The judge said that “No responsible judge will sit down and allow his court to be rubbished with falsehood as in the case of the EFCC that has been engaging in feeding the general public with falsehood

    “It is a fact that the defendants in criminal matter will be prejudiced when they are unjustly subjected to media trial through publication of falsehood and misrepresentation of the court’s proceeding.

    “Since the court cannot act in vain, it is hereby ordered that the EFCC must show compliance in the appropriate way with the retraction of the offending press statement it issued out in respect of the proceeding of this court.

    “It is hereby also ordered that the Deputy registrar, litigation must liase with Deputy Sheriff and ensured that the order of March 21, 2017 is served on the Editor-in-chief or the appropriate person in the Vanguard Newspaper to ensure that the Editor and his correspondent in Abuja responsible for the publication (of March 8, 201) to appear before this court on May 4, 2017 to show cause where they got their story on the N36.8bn fraud published.

    “Let it be understood that the press has the fourth Estate of the realm has the responsibility of holding all arms of government accountable to general public but the press has no business in misrepresenting the court so that the defendant in criminal matters would not be prejudiced and would not be found guilty though false media trial before the real court trial.”

    Justice Kolawole said that his order of March 21, shall be in force until it has been fully complied with.

    It would be recalled that based on lawyers’ complaints, the judge stopped the trial of Colonel Nicholas Ashinze and others in the alleged diversion of N1.5bn brought against them by the Federal Government.

    The action of the Judge followed a Press Statement issued by EFCC that Colonel Ashinze is being prosecuted on alleged N36bn fraud and which was widely reported on March 8, 2017 by some national dailies.

    Justice Kolawole held that deliberate misrepresentation of court proceeding as done by EFCC through its press release was in bad taste and would always prejudice the defendants because the public would be made to have different perception of the real trial in court.

     

  • Police have no power to prosecute criminal cases, strip them now! Judge advises FG

    The Chief Judge of Delta State, Marshall Umukoro, has advised that the police be stripped of their power to prosecute criminal cases.

    Umukoro gave the advice in a lecture he delivered at the 2017 Aquinas Day Colloquium of Dominican Institute in Ibadan on Tuesday.

    He said that the measure would reduce the number of accused persons awaiting trial while decongesting prisons.

    The title of the lecture was “The Judiciary and the Criminal Justice System: Odds and Ends.’’

    The chief judge said that the police have the challenge of lack of technical knowhow to handle the job of prosecutors.

    “Some police prosecutors who are not lawyers and are new on the job have no mastery of the game of prosecution.

    “This situation puts the magistrates in the position to play the role of assistants to the prosecutor.

    “Some magistrates have, in the process, descended to the arena of conflict, thereby hampering the justice of the case.

    The Chief Judge of Delta State, Marshall Umukoro, has advised that the police be stripped of their power to prosecute criminal cases.

    Umukoro gave the advice in a lecture he delivered at the 2017 Aquinas Day Colloquium of Dominican Institute in Ibadan on Tuesday.

    He said that the measure would reduce the number of accused persons awaiting trial while decongesting prisons.

    The title of the lecture was “The Judiciary and the Criminal Justice System: Odds and Ends.’’

    The chief judge said that the police have the challenge of lack of technical knowhow to handle the job of prosecutors.

    “Some police prosecutors who are not lawyers and are new on the job have no mastery of the game of prosecution.

    “This situation puts the magistrates in the position to play the role of assistants to the prosecutor.

    “Some magistrates have, in the process, descended to the arena of conflict, thereby hampering the justice of the case.

     

    NAN

  • Padding: Absence of Judge stalls Jibril’s case in Kano

    Padding: Absence of Judge stalls Jibril’s case in Kano

    The absence of the judge presiding over Abdulmuni Jibril Kofa’s case against the National Assembly and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, on Tuesday stalled the sitting of the Federal Hignh Court, Kano slated for Dec. 20.

    The Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency sued the National Assembly and Speaker Yakubu Dogara, challenging the legality of suspending their member, Abdulmumini Jibril Kofar, from the National Assembly,

    Speaking to newsmen at the court, the lead counsel for Kofa’s constituency, Mr Bashir Muqaddam, said the Judge, Justice Idris Koko, had travelled out of the state for the Judges Conference, currently holding at the Federal Capital, Abuja.

    He said after returning from the conference, the Judges would proceed for the Christmas and New Year vacations.

    According to him, the judges are expected to resume on Jan.19, 2017 while the case has been fixed for Jan.18, 2017, for mentioning.

    “Our prayer seeks that the sum of N2 billion be given to our client, Hon Abdulmumini Jibril Kofa, as payment for damages to his reputation.

    “When we resume on Jan. 18, 2017, the case will come up for mentioning,’’ Muqaddam said.

    He said the constituency was challenging the legality of Kofa’s suspension by the House of Representatives.

    “We want to know whether his whistle blowing role in exposing how the 2016 budget was padded was in contradiction of any stipulated law of the land.

    “Fundamentally, we want an immediate re-instatement of the suspended member and the court to also order for the payment of all his (Kofa’s) entitlements for the suspension period.’’

    Also speaking, the leading complainant in the case, Alhaji Ibrahim Tiga, assured Kofa’s supporters who came to the court that they would follow the case to its logical conclusion.