Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Judicial Council (NJC) has commenced an investigation into a petition brought by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA), in Zamfara State, Alhaji Sani Shinkafi.
Shinkafi in the said petition, which was received by the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria on February 26, alleged that a judge of the Zamfara State High Court engaged in “gross abuse of office and judicial rascality,” when adjudicating over a political case marked ZMS/GS/52/2018, pertaining to the March 9 governorship election.
According to the petition, the judge, Justice Bello, Muhammed Shinkafi, allegedly failed to respect the judicial hierarchy, by going ahead to deliver judgment on a matter that was pending before the Sokoto State Division of the Court of Appeal.
The APGA flag-bearer alleged that the high court judge took the action after he was notified that the appellate court had already seized of the facts of the case, thereby violating his right to fair hearing as enshrined under Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
The petition, copies of which were also sent to the Chief Judge of Zamfara State and Chairman of the Zamfara State Judicial Service Commission, read: “Please, refer to the above subject matters.