Court gives Kano judges 48 hours to resign

A Federal High Court sitting in Kano, presided over by Justice Simon Amobeda, on Thursday issued a two-day ultimatum to Justice Farouk Lawan Adamu and Justice Zuwaira Yusuf, ordering them to resign as chairpersons of the Commission of Inquiry into the Recovery of Misappropriated Public Properties and Assets and the Commission of Inquiry into Political Violence and Missing Persons.

Justice Amobeda issued the order while delivering judgment in a case filed by former governor Abdullahi Ganduje, in which he sought a stay by the court of an investigation into his administration by the government led by Governor Abba Yusuf.

The judge found that the judges’ failure to meet the deadline exposed them to the risk of non-payment of amounts due to them (salaries, allowances and benefits) intended for judicial officers from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation by the first defendant (National Council of the Judiciary).

The respondents in the suit are: the National Judicial Council (first defendant), the Revenue Mobilisation and Finance Allocation Commission (second), the Attorney General of Kano State (third), the Honourable Judge Farouk Lawan Adamu (fourth) and the Honourable Judge Zuwaira Yusuf (fifth).

He, however, said the governor’s action in appointing a commission of inquiry to investigate the Ganduje case without appealing to an earlier judgment by Justice A. Liman, which held that the former governor could only be investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), constituted abuse of power and undermining the sanctity of the judiciary.

Parts of Justice Amobeda’s order include: “By virtue of the combined provisions of Section 153(1)(i) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, CFRN, ​​1999 (as amended), paragraph 21(d) of Part I of the Third Schedule of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Sections 1, 3 and 6 of the Commission of Inquiry Law, Chapter 26, Laws of Kano State, the Governor of Kano State has no power to appoint the 4th and 5th respondents and administer to them the subsequent oath of office to serve as Chairmen of the Commission of Inquiry appointed by the Governor of Kano State, an office reserved for the Commissioners of the Kano State Government to exercise the executive powers conferred on them by the Governor of Kano State and to restrain them from exercising their functions as Judges of the High Court of Kano State, without recourse to the 1st respondent.

“That by the cumulative effect of the provisions of Sections 6, 84, 153(1)(1), 271(2), 272 read with paragraph 21(c) of Part 1 of the Third Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the 4th and 5th accused persons are not legally permitted, while they continue to pretend to occupy the office of Judge of the High Court of Kano State, to accept appointments as Chairmen of Commissions of Inquiry with quasi-judicial powers equivalent to those of a District Court and subject to the control of a Judge of the High Court of Kano State.

“That, by the combined effect of Sections 5 and 6 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the action of the Governor of Kano State in appointing the fourth and fifth defendants as chairmen of the Commissions of Inquiry in accordance with the provisions of Sections 3 and 6 of the Commission of Inquiry Law, Cap. 26, Laws of Kano State, instead of making appointments from among the Commissioners of the Kano State Government, amounts to an infringement and subversion of the judicial arm of government, a breach of the doctrine of separation of powers, a grave breach of the Constitution and gross misconduct on the part of the Governor of Kano State and the third defendants who took the oath of office and swore allegiance to the fourth and fifth defendants.

“That by the cumulative effect of the provisions of Sections 5, 6, 84 and 271 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Paragraph 21(c) of Part I of the Third Schedule to the Constitution, and the provisions of the Preamble and Rule 3.7 of the Revised Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria issued by the 1st defendant, the 4th and 5th defendants, having accepted the executive appointments as Chairmen of Commissions of Inquiry, resigned from their judicial functions and exchanged their courtrooms for the places of exercise of the executive functions assigned to them by the Governor of Kano State, they cannot at the same time continue to hold office as Judges of the High Court of Kano State and they cannot be entitled to the salaries and allowances of judicial officers fixed by the 2nd defendant and paid by the 1st defendant.

“In light of the decision of this Honourable Court coram: Justice AM Liman in case No. FHC/KN/195/2023 (between Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje v. Nigeria Police Force & Ors) delivered on 5th March 2024, wherein it was held that the plaintiff in the present case can only be investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), it is an abuse of power and undermining the sanctity of the judiciary by the Governor of Kano State to appoint a Commission of Inquiry, which is inferior to this Court, to supposedly investigate the administration of the plaintiff.

“That the 4th and 5th accused, who are serving judicial officers, respectively resign from their positions as Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry for the Recovery of Misappropriated Public Properties and Assets and Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry for the Investigation of Political Violence and Missing Persons and also immediately cease to exercise the executive functions assigned to them by the Governor of Kano State in the courtrooms designated for the resolution of disputes between persons and authorities in Kano State,” Justice Amobeda declared.