In furtherance of her attempt to scuttle the court case against Emmanuel Andy Uba , Anambra State PDP gubernatorial candidate who had filed false affidavit of academic qualifications, Justice Rose Ukeje suddenly withdrew the case from the Justice A. Chukwukere on Wednesday last week without explanations. The plaintiffs got to the trial venue only to be told the chief judge had withdrawn the case from Justice Chukwukere, while no explanation was offered the plaintiffs.
However, Saharareporters called up Justice Roseline Ukeje in Lagos during the week seeking from her explanations as to why she mysteriously transferred the case from the trial judge, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court couldn’t offer any reason, except that she insisted that our reporters come to see her “face-to-face” so that she could explain her role in the case. When our investigators asked her to explain the link between her first son, Uche Ukeje and Andy Uba, she abruptly ended the phone conversation and switched off her phone.
Shortly after our telephone conversation with her, she hurriedly allocated the case to another judge, except that the new judge Binta Murtala- Nyako is the wife of the PDP’s gubernatorial candidate in Adamawa State, Vice Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd). Binta Nyako had recently granted a judgment in favor of the PDP party leadership in the case of Imo State PDP where she affirmed that the PDP leadership was in order in substituting the candidature of Senator Ifeanyi Ararume with that of Engineer Ugwuh, the candidate with the least votes in the Imo State PDP primary elections.
Justice Rose Ukeje is no stranger to controversies, in the heat of workers strike against persistent hike in prices of petroleum products two years ago; she gave a controversial court ruling in support of the Federal government stating that the Nigerian Labor congress had no right to go on strike a judgment with which the labor movement was stifled for a long time. Justice Rose Ukeje was also at the center of the Ikoyi Housing sales scandal which led to the abrupt sacking of Mrs. Mobolaji Osomo the former Minister of Housing in 2006, she was one of the beneficiaries of the controversial sales of federal government properties in Ikoyi Lagos.
The case is expected to be heard by Binta Murtala –Nyako who is expected to give a judgment favorable to Mr. Andy Uba by Monday March 5th 2007 in Abuja.
Meanwhile, the plaintiff in the case, Mr. Greg Ikemefunna has written petition letter against Justice Roseline Ukeje to protest her handling of the case. Also, the plaintiff is expected to ask Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako to excuse herself from the case on the account of her partisanship.
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