“I know that the Governor has immunity, but I have the liberty to jail any of his aides for unguarded utterances against the decision of the Court” – Justice Simon Amobeda
With the above words, the Justice of a Federal High Court sitting in Kano fired a warning shot at the Kano State Government and some of its aides for their perceived penchant for misinterpreting Court pronouncements.
Justice Amobeda issued the warning on Thursday July 4 2024 while delivering his ruling on the application filed by the immediate past Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, challenging the the constitution of a Panel to probe State finances during his regime.
While delivering his ruling on the motion on notice Justice Amobeda specifically order a Certified True Copy, CTC, be served on the State Government and/or any of its Representative at the Court.
This, he said, is to prevent the State Government and/or its privies from further misrepresenting his pronouncements.
He ordered that the CTC be served on the Governor’s Media aide, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, who he pointedly accused of being one of those in the habit of twisting his rulings.
The trial Judge, also, threatened to commit the Governor’s Spokesperson to jail should he fail to purge himself of the tendency to misrepresent his judgements.
He noted that the continued misinterpretation of judicial pronouncements by the Kano State Government has tended to undermine the integrity of Court verdicts
The Source reports that in his ruling, Justice Amobeda had, among others, issued a 48-hour ultimatum to two serving High Court Judges, Farouk Lawan Adamu and Zuwaira Yusuf, to rescue themselves from the roles assigned to them by the Kano state Government or face National Judicial Council NJC disciplinary action.
The two Justices, were in early May, 2024, separately appointed at the Head of two Probe Panels constituted by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf to investigate the activities of the immediate past administration of Dr Ganduje, now the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress APC .
He had, also, declared illegal
the continued investigation and prosecution of the APC National Chairman on charges of corruption
against an earlier High Court ruling to the effect that only the Federal Government and its agencies are constitutionally empowered to carry out such an inquest.
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