The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) has called on the National Judicial Council, (NJC), through the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Idris Kutigi, to kick Justice Marcel Awokulehin off the James Ibori kangaroo trial in Asaba.
In a follow-up petition dated 11 December, CACOL drew the attention of the NJC to the abominable misconduct of Justice Abdullahi Mustapha, the former Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, and Awokulehin.
It said that removing Awokulehin from the case is the right thing to do as whatever decision the judge takes would be wanting in credibility and embarrass the judiciary.
Recalling the embarrassing history of the Ibori trial, the Coalition called upon Justice Kutigi, “in the name of all that is good, not to allow Mr. Justice Awokulehin deliver a ruling that would cast aspersions on the neutrality of the bench in this case, and thereby erode people’s confidence in the judiciary as an arm of government that is expected to be the last sanctuary of hope for the oppressed. In the petition, which was copied to The President; the President of the Senate; the Honourable Speaker, House of Representatives; the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation; and the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, CACOL called on the NJC to intervene before the matter becomes a national embarrassment. Justice Awokulehin is scheduled to deliver a judgement quashing Ibori's money laundering charges on December 16 2009. Ibori paid the judge $5 million for the "ruling" seeking to quash 170-count charges filed against him by the EFCC.
