FROM CHUKS ONUOHA, UMUAHIA.
JUSTICE Musa Sale Shuaibu of the Federal High Court, Owerri, presiding over the suit filed by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial aspirant, Barr. Friday N. Nwosu, challenging the election of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State over tax certificate forgery, has adjourned to April 28, 2016, after frowning at the information delivered to the court by counsel to Ikpeazu, Barr. C. C. Elele.
Ikpeazu’s lawyer had informed the judge that he was no longer presiding over the matter on the order of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.
Justice Shuaibu said the adjournment would enable him investigate if the information given by Ikpeazu’s counsel is true and that if it is true, it means that the Chief Judge is communicating with the defendant and his lawyer, and that he would want to find out why, but that if it is false, he would take the matter up against the governor’s counsel , as that would amount to professional misconduct.
That was on March 18, when the case was called up for adoption of addresses of judgment, that Barr. Elele stood up to inform the judge that the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Auta had given order , cancelling the assignment order issued to the presiding judge at Owerri not to sit over that case and deliver judgment.
That information threw the entire court into confusion and the Judge asked Elele, how he got the information, whether he had any letter to that effect to which he said no.
He then asked him how he was the only one that knew about the order issued by the Chief Judge, without him, the presiding judge, who is sitting over the matter, being written to and not having any knowledge of such letter.
He told him that if his information was true, it was strange that only him, who does not work in Federal High Court should have the information, when other senior advocates and himself were not privy to the information, implying that there must be communication between him and the Chief Judge.
And that if his information is not true, what he had done amounted to professional misconduct of high magnitude, indicating that he came to deceive the court, showing that he did that for a purpose.
The judge then adjourned the suit to 28 April , 2016 to enable him investigate if the information is true and that if it is not true, he would take the matter up against Barrister C.C. Elele, the governor’s counsel for professional misconduct.
Recall that Justice Musa Sale Shuaibu was in November 2015, assigned the suit filed against Governor Ikpeazu , Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, and Dr. Uche Ogah, by Barrister F. N. Nwosu, challenging the governorship election of Dr. Ikpeazu on allegation of tendering forged tax certificate after a petition was written against Justice F. A. Olubanjo of Umuahia Federal High Court by the claimant.
The Chief Judge then assigned the suit to Justice Musa Sale Shuaibu, the presiding judge at Owerri, but by January this year for whatever reason, he received his transfer letter to Kaduna meaning that he would hands off the case.
But the claimant in the suit Barr. Nwosu applied to the Chief Judge to allow the judge to finish the matter by adopting and giving judgment , because of the time that has been wasted in Umuahia, added to the fact that it was a pre-election matter which is the only case left and it was granted.