Former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido, on Wednesday, challenged the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, for transferring the criminal matter filed against him by the Federal Government from Justice Adeniyi Ademola to Justice B. O. Quadri in Abuja, for determination.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), prosecuting the former governor on behalf of the Federal Government, had, in September 2015, arraigned Lamido, his two sons, Aminu and Mustapha and two others before Justice Ademola in Abuja, on a 27-count charge bordering on abuse of office and money laundering.
Following Justice Ademola’s arraignment and trial before an Abuja High Court over allegation of bribery and corruption, the anti-graft agency applied to the Chief Judge for the re-assignment of Lamido’s case to another judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
However, Justice Ademola and his co-defendants were recently discharged of the corruption charges slammed against them by the Federal Government.
But in a response letter dated April 11, 2017 and addressed to the Chief Judge, the EFCC pointed out that, “it will not be in the interest of justice for the case to be transferred back to Justice Ademola’s court for continuation of trial.
“This is because of the negative impressions the public may have about the outcome of the trial whether the defendants (Lamido and sons) were convicted or not,” EFCC stated and added that, “the fear of this public perception may put the judge (Justice Ademola) under intense pressure which may affect his sense of judgment.”
When the matter came up on Wednesday, Lamido, through his lawyer, Chief Joe Agi, queried the re-assignment of the suit to Justice Quadri on the grounds of law.
In a defendants’ written address dated April 26, in support of a motion on notice, Agi disclosed that 18 out of the 20 witnesses lined up by the prosecution had already testified in the suit, adding that the EFCC had applied to the chief judge to re-assign the matter and it was re-assigned to Justice Quadri for trial to commence afresh.
“We wrote to the Chief Judge to re-assign the case back to Justice Ademola in view of the fact that 18 witnesses had been called and that by Section 98 (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), transfer of cases in criminal trials are not done as a matter of course,” Agi said.
The defence counsel countered EFCC’s position on public sentiment in the event that the suit was returned to Justice Ademola’s court, saying “the issue of public perception is not found anywhere. The law is the law.”
He urged the court to make an order that the case file be returned to Justice Ademola as well as an “order directing an accelerated hearing and determination of the charge against the defendants.”
In a five-paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Femi Popoola, the defence submitted that the fresh trial at this time would unleash hardship on the defendants.
The trial judge, Justice Quadri, adjourned the matter till May 3.
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