Two Kano State High Court judges, Justice Farouk Lawan Adamu and Justice Zuwaira Yusuf, on Friday, challenged the Federal High Court judgement, sacking them as Chairmen of the Judicial Commission of Inquiries set up by Governor Abba Yusuf to probe his predecessor and former governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s eight-year administration.
The duo of Justice Farouk and Justice Zuwaira were appointed as Chairman of Judicial Commission of Inquiry for the Recovery of Misappropriated Public Properties and Assets, and Chairman of Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate Political Violence and Missing Persons respectively, but the Federal High Court presided over by Justice Simon Amobeda in his judgment on Thursday gave them a 48-hour deadline to resign their appointments or risk their renumeration and other allowances by the National Judicial Council, NJC.
Dissatisfied with the Judgment of Justice Simon Amobeda, the two judges and Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice (Appellants) filed notice of appeal and stay of execution of the decision of the lower court.
In the notice of appeal suit No. FHC/KN/CS/152/2024 against Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje and two others, the appellants raised seven grounds of appeal and sought three reliefs from the appellate court.
The appellants held, as part of grounds, that Federal High Court has no power to exercise judicial powers on matters that arose from the employment or appointment of any person in the employment of Kano State Government, adding that only the National Industrial Court of Nigeria reserved such jurisdiction.
According to the notice, the appellants also submitted that the Kano state government has the power to appoint or employ judicial officers of Kano state judiciary to carry out functions or actions that are lawful and not prohibited by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The appellants also insisted that the exercise of judicial powers by the Federal High Court is circumscribed of Section 251 of the Constitution as amended, adding that ‘no Federal High Court has the jurisdiction or power to receive, entertain, or pronounce on the proprietary or otherwise of the conduct of any Judge of the Kano State Judiciary’. Adding that such powers and prerogatives are only reserved for the National Judicial Council, which will not share them with any Federal High Court.
The notice also added that the “Kano State Commission of Inquiries is the creation of the law of Kano State derived from the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And the commission of inquiries established by the executive powers of the governor of Kano State in line with the provision of the law of Kano State. The Federal High Court unlawfully exercised a jurisdiction threat to interfere with the functions and powers of the chairmen”.
Recall that the former governor, Ganduje, had earlier instituted a suit before the Federal High Court, seeking the court to stop Governor Yusuf from probing his administration.
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