By Ayo Kehinde
Justice Rahman Oshodi, the presiding judge of the Lagos State Special Offences Court, sitting in Ikeja, has dismissed an application seeking his recusal from further hearing and trial Godwin Emefiel, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The ruling follows an application filed on Monday by Emefiele’s legal team which accused Justice Oshodi of bias.
Judicial recusal refers to the withdrawal of a judicial officer from ongoing proceedings, for reason of a conflict of interest, perceived bias or lack of impartiality. An allegation of judicial bias calls into question the concept of fair hearing, and the often-touted clarion call against perceptions of judicial bias is that “justice must not only be done but must also be seen to be done”.
Justice Oshodi had openly declared in the court on Monday, that the allegation of receiving bribe money has been proven against Emefiele when the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, was leading a witness Mr Adetola John in evidence in chief.
Amazed at the hasty submission, Emefiele’s legal team led by Olalekan Ojo SAN, who alleged that the court had already found the former CBN governor guilty even though the case was yet to be concluded, had urged the trial judge to disqualify himself from the trial.
As an inherent rule, judicial officers are expected to be independent, impartial and beacons of integrity and must recuse him/herself in the event a conflict of interest arises in a matter in which he/she is acting.
But ruling on the application for recusal on Wednesday, Justice Oshodi, who cited several cases of bias, dismissed the application.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had on April 8, 2024, arraigned Emefiele before the court on a 26-count charge bordering on alleged abuse of office and irregular allocation of $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion respectively.
According to the charges, the EFCC had in counts 1 to 4 as well as counts 8 to 26, accused Emefiele of “alleged abuse of office, contrary to and punishable under Section 73 of the Criminal Law of Lagos 2011; accepting gratification, contrary and punishable under Section 8 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000; corrupt demand, contrary and punishable under Section 10 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000; receiving property fraudulently obtained, contrary to and punishable under Section 328 of the Criminal Law of Lagos 2011; and conferring corrupt advantage, contrary to Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000”.
Justice Oshodi had on January 8, held that while counts 1 to 4 relate to the general offence of abuse of office as defined by criminal law, the specific conduct alleged in those counts specifically, the allocation of foreign exchange without a bid is not defined as an offence in any written law in Nigeria.
