Barrister Casmir Elele who is the lawyer to Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu in the tax forgery matter instituted against him at the Federal High court, Owerri, by one of the aspirants who contested against him at the December 8, 2014 PDP governorship primaries, Chief Friday Nwosu, may have landed in trouble over a claim that the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Justice Ibrahim Auta, has revoked the order he granted the former presiding Judge of the Federal High Court, Owerri, Justice Saleh Musa Shuaibu, to hear and conclude the matter.
247ureports.com gathered that Justice Shuaibu had been transferred to the Kaduna Federal High Court, but was granted an order by Justice Auta to return to Owerri to hear and conclude the tax forgery matter, among two other cases.
When the Court resumed on 18th March, 2016, for the adoption of written addresses by parties in the suit, Ikpeazu’s lawyer, Elele announced in court that his principal informed him that the order granted Justice Shuaibu to hear and conclude the matter has been revoked.
Sources told our correspondent that Justice Shuaibu was bemused and wondered why the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, could have made the order without informing him either through a letter or phone call. He reminded the parties that the matter is a pre election one which should be heard with dispatch.
According to Justice Shuaibu,” I have no such letter directing me to hands off the matter or that the order granted me has been revoked. But if counsel to the 3rdrespondent (Gov.Ikpeazu) insists, I will adjoin this matter to confirm if there is such order. I already have him on record. I have three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) and other lawyers who are in court appearing in this matter as witnesses. If at the end of the day, the learned Counsel to the 3rd respondent made a false claim that the order was revoked, I will take this matter of professional misconduct to the highest level of the Nigerian Bar Association. I will follow it.”
All efforts made by the lawyers appearing in the matter to convince the Judge to continue with the matter proved abortive as he appealed to all parties to exercise patience. “I m adjourning this matter to enable confirm if there is such an order. For now, we must be careful. May be they sent the letter to Kaduna or I can return to my chamber after sitting and see the letter,” he said.
A senior lawyer who spoke on the condition of anonymity told 247ureports.com that Elele will face grave disciplinary actions by the NBA if it was later found out that the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court didn’t revoke the order he granted Justice Shuaibu.
The lawyer insisted that there is no way the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court could have revoked an order he made without informing the sitting Judge to whom the order was granted, adding that it is impossible.
As at the time of filing this report, no reaction has been heard from the CJ’s office in Abuja, leading to all parties getting set for legal fireworks on the next adjourned date of 28th April, 2016, even as tension mounts in the governor’s camp over the new dimension of the matter.
Justice Shuaibu later adjourned the matter to 28th April, 2016.
