A Federal High Court Judge, Abdul Kafarati has withdrawn from Senate President, Bukola Saraki’s case, returning the case file to Chief Judge.
Justice Kafarati said his integrity had been maligned by the reports and the honourable thing for him to do was to disqualify himself from the case
The judge quoted copiously online reports and said he had been caught between two devils.
“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.
“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.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Government, through its lawyer, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), had during the hearing of Saraki’s suit before Justice Abdu-Kafarati, urged the court resist the temptation of overruling the Supreme Court by going ahead to stop the Senate President’s trial before the CCT.
Jacobs urged Justice Abdu-Kafarati to dismiss the suit which he said was not fit to be instituted under the fundamental human rights enforcement proceedings.
The lawyer, while arguing his notice of preliminary objection, accused the Senate President of raising the issue of violation of his rights to fair hearing in order to escape trial.
“The issue of malicious prosecution raised by the applicant cannot come under fundamental human rights proceedings,” Jacobs said.
He contended that the suit by Saraki was an abuse of court process.
The issues in it, having been raised in another pending suit filed by the Senate President before the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop his trial and also in his objection filed before the CCT, was dismissed by the Supreme Court.
The lawyer argued that the suit amounted to an invitation to the judge to overrule the Supreme Court, which had validated the competence of the charges.
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