₦423bn Probe: El-Rufai Accuses Judge Of Bias, Seeks Case Transfer
A former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has taken Justice R.M Aikawa of the Federal High Court sitting in the state capital to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for alleged bias.
The former governor, in a petition, asked the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to transfer his case being handled by Justice Aikawa to another judge.
El-Rufai had in June 2024 filed a suit to challenge the probe report of the Kaduna State House of Assembly which indicted him for alleged misappropriation of ₦423bn public fund.
In the fundamental rights case he filed against the Kaduna Assembly before the Court, the former governor asked the court to declare the Assembly’s report as null and void for violating his right to a fair hearing as guaranteed under the Constitution of Nigeria.
However, Justice Aikawa, on Thursday, adjourned ruling on the case after hearing from the respondents who submitted their preliminary and substantive objections to the court, in the absence of El-Rufai’s counsel, Abdulhakeem Mustapha.
However, not happy with the ruling without his presence, El-Rufai, in his petition to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, demanded the transfer of the case to another judge in the interest of justice and a fair hearing.
According to the former governor, the action of the presiding judge to hear the matter without the attendance and appearance of the applicant smacked of extreme bias, injustice, and denial of a fair hearing against him.
