CCT: Judge disqualifies self from Saraki’s suit

Dr. Bukola Saraki

FEDERAL High Court Judge, Justice Abdulkadir Kafarati, yesterday declined to give judgment in the case of enforcement of fundamental human rights instituted before him by Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki citing allegation of N2billion bribery against him as the reason for the decision. 

Kafarati stated that he got a report in the media indicating that he was induced to deliver judgment in the favour of the Senate President to the tune of N2 billion adding that such allegation is weighty enough to reduce his ruling to naught and therefore opted to step aside.

“In the instance case, I am already caught in between two devils because any attempt to give the judgment in this matter, even though it is ready for today, but, the attempt can be used by the wicked people to justify their malicious publication against my person. In view of this grievous allegation, even though my judgment in the matter is ready, I have no option than to disqualify myself from proceeding to deliver the judgment, because the malicious publication had already polluted the minds of the general publication.

“So, I, hereby, disqualify myself from this case and the case file shall be returned to the Chief Judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta, for possible re- assignment to another Judge”, Justice Kafarati said.

Reacting to the development, senior lawyers yesterday applauded his decision to withdraw from the suit in view of the allegation stating that under the conventional norm, a judge should withdraw from a suit in which he is alleged to have been induced for the sanctity of the system. 

Speaking on the development, Chief Robert Clarke (SAN) said Justice Kafarati’s withdrawal from the case was honourable and consistent with the ethics of the profession towards retaining public confidence in the judiciary. 

“A judge has an absolute discretion to withdraw from a case if there are insinuations coming from either the media or the accused himself challenging his right to give an honest opinion on a matter before him. Definitely, I agree with him that there had been insinuations made about him. So, I see nothing wrong in that”, Clarke said.

According to Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), “A judge who is accused, rightly or wrongly, of bias in a case should withdraw from that case honourably. and when a judge with a strong character like Kafarati feels that his name is unnecessarily being maligned in the media, I believe he was right to have voluntarily withdrawn from it”.

In its reaction, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) called for speedy and fair trial of the Senate President by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) and charged the judiciary to ensure that the withdrawal is not political as a means of buying time.