A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday fixed July 1 to deliver ruling on an application by the Ogun-East Senator in the National Assembly, Buruji Kashamu, seeking an order striking out an extradition suit instituted against him by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
The suit filed on May 28, 2015, was predicated on a request by the Embassy of the United States of America seeking the Nigerian government to surrender Kashamu to face one count of drug-related charge before the US District Court for the Northern Illinois, Eastern Division.
The presiding judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, had fixed the case for Thursday for mention.
But Kashamu, through his counsel, Mr. Raphael Oluyede, raised an objection to the suit on Thursday.
Kashamu had filed a separate notice of preliminary objection yet to be heard by the court.
Oluyede anchored his client’s objection to the suit on the grounds of two judgments delivered by separate judges of the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court on June 8 and 23, 2015.
The judgment by Justice Okon Abang on June 8 nullified the extradition proceedings while another ruling by Justice Ibrahim Buba on June 23 affirmed Justice Abang’s judgment.
Oluyede tendered the copies of the judgment and ruling before Justice Kolawole of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday.
But the judge said he could not deliver a bench ruling on Oluyede’s application as he needed to digest and understand the details of the judgments before he could make a pronouncement on the application.
Before the adjournment on Thursday, AGF’s lawyer, Mr. Musliu Hassan, had urged the court to issue a warrant of arrest against Kashamu due to his absence from court.
“Section 6 of the Extradition Act empowers us (the AGF) to apply for an arrest warrant against the respondent (Kashamu),” the AGF’s counsel said.
But in his response, Oluyede, who appeared with Alex Izinyon (SAN) for Kashamu with other lawyers, said in the light of the pronouncements of the Lagos Division of the court, the only business that could be entertained on Thursday, was for Justice Kolawole to strike out the suit.
“My Lord should give effect to the orders of the court by striking out the extradition suit,” Oluyede said.
But Hassan opposed the prayer for striking out the suit, arguing that the judgment by Justice Abang was “overreaching” since the suit he nullified was not before him.
He said, “The Lagos Division of the court has no supervisory jurisdiction over this court (Justice Kolawole’s court)
“The decision of the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court being of coordinate jurisdiction with this court is not binding on this court.
“The suit in which Justice Abang delivered his judgment had nothing to do with this suit. The respondent (Kashamu) complained in that suit that he was going to be abducted. We only filed this suit later. But the judge went ahead to make an overreaching order by nullifying the proceedings in this court.”
But Oluyede responded insisting that the processes of the extradition suit was filed before Justice Abang, adding that as such, the judge was right to nullify the proceedings.
The judge after hearing them adjourned till July 1 for ruling.
He added that depending on his decision, if holds the extradition application to be competent, the court would then entertain the lawyers’ argument on whether Kashamu must be present in court during the hearing of the extradition application or not.
The immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, had instituted the extradition application with suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/479/2015.
An affidavit deposed to by Assistant US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Diane MacArthur, attached to the extradition request from the US government was said to be dated April 27, 2015.
By the US government’s charge against him, Kashamu allegedly conspired with others to intentionally import “and did import” into the United States” quantities of mixtures containing heroine, between 1992 and 1995.
Punch
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