Kashamu: Court Declines Request to Hands off Case

A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, presided over by Justice Ibrahim Buba on Tuesday declined to disqualify himself from entertaining a suit initiated by Senator Buruji Kashamu.The Senator is specifically praying the court to stop the Federal Government (FG) from taking over his property over drug trafficking allegations.He is equally praying for an order of perpetual injunction barring the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) from taking possession of his property.It would be recalled that Justice Buba had earlier restrained the NDLEA from arresting or extraditing Kashamu to the United States of America, where he is allegedly wanted.However, the anti-narcotic agency requested the judge to recuse himself from the matter on the grounds that since Justice Buba, on June 23, reaffirmed a May 27 order by Justice Okon Abang of the same court stopping Kashamu’s arrest, he might not be fair in the case.NDLEA claimed that the injunction amounted to preventing federal agencies from discharging their constitutional duties. The agency said, “The case file should be returned to the Chief Judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta, for reassignment to another judge.”In refusing the application for lacking in merit, Justice Buba noted that he would not shy away from deciding a case merely because of an unsubstantiated accusation of bias.According to him, “This application is part of the game of hide-and-seek between the parties before me who have been in and out of court. Some of the matters are on appeal. “The applicant failed woefully to point at any decision this court reached or point of law that it reached and is likely to reach in another one. “If any party is dissatisfied with any judgment, the right thing to do was to appeal, and not to accuse a judge of bias. “The Federal High Court is one. The judges are one. The applicant cannot pick and choose judges for their matters. “In sum, this court will not set aside its order made pending the hearing of the fundamental rights application, which is sui generis (unique). “In a fundamental rights suit, the court has the power to make a restraining order against anyone until an applicant’s main suit is determined. “That is what this court has done, pure and simple. This court will not abdicate its responsibilities no matter who is involved. This application is a further waste of time in a game of hide-and-seek between the parties. “The court will remain focused and see the dispute as presented before it, not imaginary issues. After all, this court does not assign cases to itself.“The application has no merit and does not deserve any consideration. Same is hereby dismissed.”