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Media report forces judge to withdraw from Suswam’s trial

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Media report forces judge to withdraw from Suswam’s trial

A judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, on Monday, withdrew from the trial of former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, and his Commissioner of Finance, Mr. Omodachi Okolobia, over bribe allegations.

According to the judge, his decision to withdraw from the case was informed by a publication by an online news platform, saying he had been compromised to give Suswam a “soft landing”.

The fourth prosecution witness in the case, Mr. Abubakar Umar, was scheduled to continue his testimony on Monday, but the judge brought up the issue of the online publication after lawyers announced their appearance.

However, the counsels, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), for prosecution, Joseph Daudu, for Suswan and that of Okolobia, all urged the judge to disregard the report, saying it was the handiwork of mischief makers.

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Justice Mohammed however said the best option was for him to withdraw from the case and remit the case file back to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.

The judge said the online publication ought not to be taken seriously as it had become the trend in recent times to accuse judges of all sort of wrongdoings. According to him, Justices of both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal had come under similar attack, but that the difference in his case is that the Justices of the appellate courts were eminent personalities unlike him who was inconsequential.

Justice Mohammed reasoned that if at the end of the case Suswam was acquitted, the reasonable man on the street would say the report was true and that if he was not acquitted, “the same reasonable man” would say he has been intimidated by the report.

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