Judge Withdraws From Saraki’s Case
Justice Abdukadir Abdu-Kafarati of a Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday withdrew from a fundamental rights suit filed by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, seeking an order to stop his trial for false declaration of assets levelled against him by federal government at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).
This development follows a report published by an online medium, Sahara Reporters, which accused the judge of having been compromised by Saraki.
According to Justice Abdu-Kafarati, the reason for his withdrawal was because his integrity had been smeared by the report.
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He said he was therefore left with no choice but to disqualify himself from the case.
The judge said that having read the online report which specifically accused him of corruption to the tune N2bn, stated that if he ruled against or for Saraki his decision would be interpreted differently.
“It is only in this country that people can wake up and start calling people names,” he said.
“If I grant the prayers of the applicant. The reading public will say yes, the judge has been compromised. If I refuse the prayers, they will say the judge has been threatened or intimidated.
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“The most honourable thing for me to do is to disqualify myself from this case. I hereby disqualify myself from this case and the file is returned to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for re-assignment,” he said.
