The claim, Thursday, by a judge of the Federal High Court, Okon Abang, that he and the spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, may not be classmates, is false, checks have revealed.<\/p>\n
Justice Abang had, during a hearing of the case between Mr. Metuh and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, rejected claims by Mr. Metuh\u2019s lawyers that he and the PDP spokesman were classmates at the Nigerian Law School.<\/p>\n
A counsel to Mr. Metuh, Emeka Etiaba, had written to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Ibrahim Auta, demanding that the corruption case be withdrawn from Mr. Abang and assigned to another judge.
\nIn the petition, Mr. Etiaba said Mr. Metuh feared he might not get justice from Mr. Abang, being a former classmate and based on what he knew as the judge\u2019s position on the matter and himself.
\nThe lawyer said the PDP spokesperson informed his legal team that sometime late last year, when he met the judge at an occasion at the Le Meridian Hotel, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, \u201che was baffled at Justice Abang\u2019s views and when eventually the charge against him was assigned to his court this January, (a few weeks later), he got worried because he feared that he may not get justice in his court.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking on the letter, Justice Abang told the team of lawyers before him that \u201care you aware that after eight witnesses were called by the prosecution, and the court gave its ruling on an application of no-case submission by the defence, that Mr. Emeka Etiaba wrote the registrar to the Chief Justice of the Court, asking that this case be transferred to another judge?\u201d.
\nAccording to the judge, the reason given by Mr. Etiaba for the request of transfer of the case was that he (the judge) gave certain interlocutory judgements in favour of the prosecution, and that he (Mr. Abang) was Mr. Metuh\u2019s former classmate.<\/p>\n
Justice Abang added, \u201cI am not aware that the first defendant was my classmate, he said he is my classmate.\u201d
\nHowever, checks by PREMIUM TIMES showed that both Messrs. Metuh and Abang were called to the Bar on the same day and were both members of the Nigerian Law School class of 1988.
\nMr. Metuh\u2019s call-to-bar certificate showed that he was called to the Nigerian Bar on November 3, 1988.
\nAlso, the profile of Justice Abang, as posted on the website of the Federal High Court indicated that he was called to the bar on November 3, 1988.
\nAs at 1988, there was only one law school in Nigeria, located in Victoria Island, Lagos. All lawyers seeking to practice law in Nigeria at that time attended the school.
\nThe controversy over whether the judge and Mr. Metuh were classmates did not come up suddenly in open court. A petition was sent to the Chief Judge, through which that claim was made.
\nThe petition was brought to the judge\u2019s attention.
\nSome lawyers told PREMIUM TIMES that Justice Abang should have made enquiry to determine if indeed Mr. Metuh was his classmate before raising the matter in open court.
\n\u201cHe had time and opportunity to crosscheck the claim before the court hearing,\u201d one lawyer said. \u201cHe cannot be excused for saying he was not aware he was classmate of the PDP spokesman.\u201d
\nJustice Abang however denied he had been biased against Mr. Metuh, saying the court approved three adjournments at the request of the defence.
\nHe also denied the claim that Mr. Metuh was denied copies of the court\u2019s ruling.
\n\u201cThe secretary will type and the court will proofread about four times,\u201d said Justice Abang, explaining why copies of a ruling he gave was not ready before Thursday for both parties.
\nMr. Abang said despite the \u201cunprofessional\u201d conduct of Mr. Etiaba, he would abide by the directives from the National Judicial Council which directs judges in such circumstances to continue to handle cases until the chief judge takes a decision on such petitions.
\nHe therefore adjourned the case to March 23, 2016.
\nPremium Times<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The claim, Thursday, by a judge of the Federal High Court, Okon Abang, that he and the spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, may not be classmates, is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n