NJC panel to
grill Judge Sept.
Following
recent conflicting rulings over the governorship tussle in Abia State and the
leadership crises rocking the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, by Justice Okon
Abang of the federal High Court Abuja, the National Judicial Council, NJC, has
commenced
discreet investigations on the judge.
Justice Abang
is to face an NJC panel September. A highly placed Judiciary source at the
weekend told Nigerian Pilot Sunday that some chieftain of the leading
opposition party, PDP, have petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN,
Justice Mahmud Mohammed and the NJC over alleged misconduct and abuse of office
by Justice Abang.
According to
the source, the NJC has already commenced secret investigation following the
controversy in the botched convention of the PDP and the ruling that led to the
sacking of Abia governor ,Okezie Ikpeazu, who was restored by the Appeal Court
Thursday last week.
The source
further added that the NJC in its September meeting will constitute a full
blown panel that will grill the embattled controversial judge.
The Court of
Appeal, Abuja division, restored Dr Okezie Ikpeazu as the duly elected governor
of Abia State just as the court set aside the judgment of justice Okon Abang of
the federal high court which on June 27th removed the governor from office.
Justice Abang
removed Ikpeazu from office on account of supplying false information to obtain
his party nomination for the 2015 governorship election.
The appellate
court however, voided the legal action of justice Abang on the grounds that the
originating summons relied upon by the judge to give the judgment did not
comply with any known law in the country .
Justice
Ibrahim Shata Bdliya who delivered one of the lead judgments in an appeal filed
by Ikpeazu, held that Justice Abang erred in law by assuming jurisdiction in an
originating summons that was not signed by any identifiable legal practitioner
among the three lawyers that issued the said summons.
In the
unanimous judgment of the court, the federal high court judgment delivered on
June 27th was said not to have been competent, having been based on an
originating summons that was invalid, null and void.
Apart from not
signing the originating summons, the appeal court held that the suit filed by
Dr. Samson Ogah did not disclose any cause of action because it was filed even
before the appellant (Ikpeazu) submitted his documents to the Independent
National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Justice Bdliya
agreed with counsel to the governor, Chief Wole Olanipekunsan, that it was not
the duty of the court to begin to search for the signatory to the originating
summons to authenticate it as required by law.
Besides, the
appeal court also held that although the originating summons was later amended,
but said that an amended originating summon has no capacity to cure a defective
and incurably bad originating summons being the foundation of the suit.
The appeal
court further agreed with Olanipekun SAN that Justice Abang erred in law by
making findings at the interlocutory level of case by taking a stance on issues
in the main suit.
“He ought not
to have given the final findings at the interlocutory level and his conclusion
at the interlocutory level was a breach of fair hearing against the appellant
(Ikpeazu) who was not given opportunity to use the substantive suit to prove
his case.
The court also
upheld the submission of Olanipekun SAN that because of the circumstances of
the issues in the suit, the suit ought to have been instituted through the use
of writ where witnesses can be called to make clarifications on the the
disputed issues, rather than using originating summons that does not require
the calling of witnesses.
In another
Judgment by Justice Helen Morenikeji Ogunwumiju, the appellate court held that
Justice Abang raped democracy in his order that the INEC should issue a
certificate of return to Dr. Samson Ogah when there was no evidence of forgery
of criminality against the appellant.
According to
the court, the judgment of Justice Abang was grossly erroneous because it was
based on inadequacy of tax receipt that cannot be visited on the appellant
(Ikpeazu).
“After reading
through the judgment several times, I was amazed at how the trial Judge arrived
at his conclusion of perjury against the appellant when there was no evidence
of forgery. To say the least, his findings are ridiculous.
“The Judge
must have sat in his chamber, unilaterally assessed and computed the tax of the
appellant and came to the conclusion that he did not pay the required tax. But
let me say that courts are not allowed to speculate as the trial Judge has done
in the instant case.
The trial
Judge spoke from both sides of his mouth when in one breath, he claimed that he
based his findings on supply of false information and in another breath, he
came to the conclusion that the appellant in this matter committed perjury,
even when there was no allegation of forgery and no allegation that he did not
pay tax.
Justice
Ogunwumiju also agreed with Olanepekun SAN, that the Federal High Court Judge
turned the head of the law upside down in his conclusion that it was the
appellant that should bear the burden of proof on the allegation made by Ogah.
“With respect,
we disagree with him (Judge) in this conclusion because it is the person that
makes allegation of falsehood that must prove it.”
The Appeal
Court also held that Justice Abang erred when he imported the phrase ‘as at
when do’ into the PDP 2014 guidelines.
“The Judge
would not have imported the phrase into his findings if he had seen the copy of
the PDP guideline. In this case, he violated the PDP guideline”.
“From whatever
angle one looks at the judgment of the trial Judge, the decision of his court
was grossly erroneous. The inadequacies of the tax receipt cannot be visited on
Ikpeazu who scored the highest votes in the 2015 governorship elections as
doing so will amount To Molest of democracy.”
In all, the
appeal court set aside the judgment of Justice Abang delivered on June 27 for
being a nullity and a miscarriage of justice that must not be allowed in law.
The court also
awarded various sums of money against Ogah as cost.
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