Former Governor Nasir El-Rufai has petitioned the Federal High Court, accusing Judge Rilwanu Aikawa of bias in a case involving the state government and state House of Assembly. El-Rufai claims his rights were infringed during investigations into his administration’s financial management from 2015 to 2023.
El-Rufai filed a lawsuit to declare unconstitutional a report by the state assembly accusing him of mismanaging N423 billion from loans obtained during his tenure. Through his counsel, Adetayo Adeyemi, he sent a petition to Chief Judge John Tsoho, alleging “gross bias, injustice, and denial of fair hearing.”
He asked for the case to be transferred to another judge. “Justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done,” El-Rufai stated in his petition.
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The case was filed on June 26, 2024, and set for hearing on July 8. El-Rufai’s counsel, S.S. Umoru, informed the court that all parties had been served and were within time to file their responses. However, the first respondent’s counsel, Sule Shaibu, said they were out of time by one day. The court then adjourned the case to July 17.
El-Rufai’s principal counsel, A.U. Mustapha, traveled from Lagos to Kaduna for the hearing, but was informed that the court would not be sitting. On the night of July 17, they learned that the hearing was rescheduled for July 18.
Given the short notice, El-Rufai’s team filed for an adjournment and served all parties. Despite this, the court proceeded without notifying El-Rufai, leading to further proceedings without his attendance. El-Rufai called this act “extreme bias, injustice, and denial of fair hearing.”
He emphasized, “The applicant was not put on notice for the proceedings of July 18. We only got a whiff of the hearing on the night of July 17, which is an extremely short time for us to appear in court. Service of hearing in a matter is sacrosanct.”
El-Rufai concluded by requesting the case be moved from Judge Aikawa, stating he had “lost all confidence in the judge to continue to hear and determine the matter.”