The former senator wants the court to prevent the federal government from extraditing him to the US for a trial.
A judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Okon Abang, has threatened to withdraw from a suit brought by a former Senator for Ogun East district, Buruji Kashamu, to stop his extradition to the United States of America concerning drugs-related indictment.
The former senator wants the court to prevent the federal government from extraditing him to the US for a trial.
Abang, who claimed to have given judgment in two suits in 2015 on the same matter, said he threatened to withdraw from the fresh suit filed last year if it is related to the issue of extradition.
The judge’s reaction, on Thursday, came in the wake of an observation by a counsel representing the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Joseph Sunday, who drew the attention of the court, to the fact that he had in 2015, delivered two judgments on the extradition suit.
According to Sunday, those judgments had been set aside by Lagos court of appeal and that the appeal on the said judgment is before the Supreme Court.
However, the lawyer representing Kashamu, Ifeoma Esson, said the new suit of was not related to the previous judgments Abang gave in 2015, explaining that the suit at hand has to do with the unlawful invasion and siege laid to his client’s house for six days by operatives of the NDLEA.
She further told Abang that the current suit is challenging the violation of Kashamu’s fundamental right to dignity of person and freedom of movement.
Kashamu had in the second suit, FHC/ABJ/CF/530/2018, sued the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami and the NDLEA, urging that the two respondents should be stopped from extraditing him to the US.
Following the arguments of the parties, Abang judge adjourned the hearing of the substantive case until September 30.