Judge hands-off Fani-Kayode’s N4.9bn alleged fraud case

A Lagos Federal High Court judge, Justice Muslim Hassan, has taken his hands off the case of alleged N4.9billion fraud involving former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode.

The judge, while announcing his withdrawal from presiding over the case brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the former minister and others, directed that the case file be returned to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, for re-assignment to another judge.

He said that Fani-Kayode and his co-defendants should now wait for further directive from Justice Auta.

Fani-Kayode is charged alongside a former Minister of State for Finance, Nenadi Usman, a former National Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Yusuf Danjuma as well as a company — Jointrust Dimensions Nigeria Ltd.

They are facing a 17-count charges bordering on money laundering slammed on them by the EFCC.

They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Counsel to Fani-Kayode, Mr Norrison Quakers (SAN), had in previous sitting of the court urged the presiding judge to step aside from hearing the suit.

Read also: Court remands ex-NNPC GMD Yakubu in Kuje prison

His application was on the supposition that the judge had worked as Head of Legal Services at the EFCC before his appointment as a judge and was the one who signed the money laundering charges for which Fani-Kayode was previously prosecuted some years back.

While Quakers noted that he could not show or prove any element of bias from the judge in the case so far, he however contended that it would serve the interest of justice for him to withdraw from the suit considering his relationship with the EFCC.

It was sequel to this that when the case resumed on Thursday, Justice Hassan, in a ruling disqualified himself from the criminal trial of the defendants.

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