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Justice Awokulehin, Ibori's Asaba “kangaroo court” Judge, withdraws from Nassarawa corruption case

April 27, 2010

The infamous Justice Marcel Awokulehin, who presided over the James Ibori kangaroo court that saw the quashing of the 177-counts of corruption against the former Delta State Governor at the Federal High Court, Asaba, has withdrawn from a similar case in Nassarawa State.  SaharaReporters considers this a victory for its dogged reporting. 

Image removed.The infamous Justice Marcel Awokulehin, who presided over the James Ibori kangaroo court that saw the quashing of the 177-counts of corruption against the former Delta State Governor at the Federal High Court, Asaba, has withdrawn from a similar case in Nassarawa State.  SaharaReporters considers this a victory for its dogged reporting. 
Two weeks ago, Saharareporters revealed that Justice Awokulehin had been secretly transferred to the Federal High Court, Lafia in Nassarawa State where he was charged with doing an Ibori-job for former governor Abdulahi Adamu, who had filed a motion similar to Ibori's asking the court to quash the 144 count charge proffered against him by the EFCC.

Awokulehin, who was handpicked by Ibori to try his own corruption case in Asaba, and paid $5 million to keep him out of jail, quashed all the charges brought against Ibori in Asaba without allowing the case to go to trial.  SaharaReporters had disclosed the plan from the onset. 



The judge who was handling the Lafia case at the beginning, Justice Ibrahim Nyaure Buba, another notoriously corrupt high court judge with a reputation for granting frivolous perpetual injunctions to protect corrupt public officials, had been exchanged with Awokulehin.  As we have also previously reported, Justice Buba was transferred to Asaba to replace Awokulehin as Ibori got ready to file a motion asking the Federal High Court to bar the EFCC perpetually from arresting or trying him. Justice Ibrahim Nyaure Buba did grant Ibori the exparte order but he quickly reversed himself and made available handwritten notes purportedly denying that Ibori got an injunction from him when Saharareporters revealed how he granted the order from his car. 



Last week, Justice Buba gave an ambiguous ruling in which he asked all parties to maintain the "status quo", a charge that Ibori has dubiously interpreted to mean that the EFCC was barred from arresting him, while the EFCC maintains that a warrant of arrest issued against the former serial convict was the status of his case.

In reporting the Ibori business arrangement at the Federal High Court in Asaba, Saharareporters also revealed that Awokulehin had been transferred up north to do another snow job against justice.  Our report was his major reference yesterday as he withdrew shamefully from the case after acknowledging that his name was forever tainted by the Ibori job he did in Asaba.


But Niyi Akintola, SAN, who stood in for the EFCC was direct in confronting the rogue judge.  He told Justice Awokulehin that he had no objection to his withdrawal from the case in as much as his decision to withdraw from the case was as a result of his shameful conduct in the Ibori case.

Mr. Akintola added that no Nigerian, including judges, lives in Utopia. “It behooves Judges to also apply common sense and not depend wholly on evidence in prosecuting corruption cases. For instance, why would a judge refuse to accept computer printout of a bank statement which the prosecution has availed the court and which can be verified by the bank, in the prosecution of a fraud case?” he queried.



Mr. Akintola had successfully blocked Justice Buba from thrashing Adamu's case, resisting all the antics of the “Odili judge,”—a sobriquet Buba earned after granting the former governor of Rivers State the perpetual injunction that has so far protected him from prosecution—until he was transferred out of Lafia while Awokulehin was brought in to replace him.

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