Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court has ordered Justices Faruk Adamu and Zuwaira Yusuf of the Kano State High Court to resign from their positions as chairmen of two Judicial Commissions of Inquiry within 48 hours.
The order was delivered in a judgment on Thursday in a suit filed by former Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
The National Judicial Council (NJC), Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Attorney General of Kano State, and Justices Faruk Adamu and Zuwaira Yusuf were named as defendants in the case.
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Justice Amobeda ruled that the NJC should halt payment of any remuneration, allowances, and benefits to the two judges if they fail to comply with the resignation order.
Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf inaugurated the two commissions on April 4 to investigate misappropriation of public property, political violence, and missing persons from 2015 to 2023, under the chairmanship of Justices Adamu and Yusuf.
Justice Amobeda, however, ruled that the judges must cease performing these executive functions, which are not within their judicial mandate.
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Justice Amobeda referenced the combined effects of sections 6, 84, 153(1), 271(2), 272, and paragraph 21(c) of part 1 of the third schedule to the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which prohibit sitting judges from accepting appointments to commissions with quasi-judicial powers equivalent to those of a magistrate.
“The 4th and 5th defendants are not legally permitted, while purporting to hold the office of a judge of the High Court of Kano State, to accept appointments as chairmen of the commission of inquiry,” Justice Amobeda stated.
He further asserted that the governor lacked the authority to appoint them to such positions or administer their oaths of office for these roles.
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The court also cited a decision by Justice Abdullahi Muhammad Liman, which stipulated that only the EFCC and ICPC could investigate the former governor, making the establishment of the commission by Governor Yusuf an abuse of office and a violation of judicial sanctity.
However, the court rejected the argument from Ganduje’s counsel that the judges should cease being judicial officers for accepting the commission appointments.