•Appeal Court justices quit suit over alleged bias

From Godwin Tsa, Abuja

The political whirlwind in Ondo State yesterday when three Justices of the Court of Appeal hearing the suit brought by the Senator Ahmed Markarfi faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as they washed their hands off the case over alleged bias.
The allegation which brought the proceedings to an abrupt end was contained in  a petition written by a factional chairman of the PDP in the state, Prince Biyi Poroye, who claimed the Justices have been compromised.
In the petition dated October 31, 2016  and addressed to the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, the petitioner alleged  that Governor Olusegun Mimiko had boasted in the public that he and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State have settled the Justices with N350 million.
The petition was copied President Muhammadu Buhari, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the panel itself. This is the second time a petition would be written against a presiding judge over the Ondo political crisis.
The first petition was against the trial judge, Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court wherein, the petitioner, Clement Faboyede, another factional chairman of the PDP, alleging that Justice Abang colluded with lawyers from the Senator Ali Modu Sherrif faction to obtain judgment.
Faboyede’s petition dated October 17, 2016 was in respect of suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/395/2016, Prince Biyi Poroye & 8 ors Vs INEC & 1 or.
In the petition against the Court of Appeal justices, Poroye, who swore to an affidavit to buttress his claim, said he believed that the justices have been compromised because Justice Jumai Hannatu Sankey is allegedly prone to corruption.
In the petition which the embattled justices described as rudely written and malicious, Poroye further alleged that Justice Sankey had been sick for the past five years and as such, “became very poor and prone to corruption”.
The petitioner also alleged that Sankey was transferred from Yola where Eyitayo Jegede, the appellant, was practising law for the past 15 years and that when the judge arrived in Akure, Governor Mimiko boasted that he spent N100 million on her.
In the circumstances, the petitioner demanded the disbandment of the panel on ground that his side will not get justice from the panel.
The PDP factional chairman also faulted the composition of a special panel to hear a pre-election matter, adding that there was no reason for the President of the Court of Appeal to have done so since the appeal was not time-bound.
At the resumption of hearing of the matter, Justice Sankey drew the attention of lawyers in the case to the petition and demanded to know whether the panel can still go ahead with hearing of the case in spite of the strongly worded petition which was supported with an affidavit of evidence.
After the attention of the petition was brought to the knowledge of the public, lawyers in the matter condemned the action, saying it was capable of eroding the integrity of the judiciary.
Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), counsel to Jegede, who was first to speak, said that he was taken aback by the development and that he was not copied.
The lawyer described the petition as most embarrassing, unfair, unfortunate and un-godly because the Justices have not taken any step to suggest any likelihood of bias.
In his contribution, counsel to the petitioner [Poroye], Dr. Alex Izinyon (SAN), said he was speechless because he has no idea of the petition and was not consulted by his client before writing it.
Izinyon asked the court to invite the petitioner to the court room to explain the rationale behind his petition and to make clarifications on how he came about petition.