Judge withdraws from Saraki's suit over alleged bribe

Justice Abdul Kafarati of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has withdrawn from a fundamental rights suit filed by Senate President Bukola Saraki, to crush the charges of false declaration of assets brought against him by the federal government at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

Kafarati explained that his integrity had been called into question in the matter, hence his decision to disqualify himself from it. According to him, his decision comes on the heels of a report on two online publications accusing him of corruption to the tune N2bn, Vanguard reports. Kafarati belives that if he ruled against or for Saraki his decision would be interpreted differently. He said: “Two publications made allegations against my person, alleging that I have been compromised with N2bn. They also alleged that I am known in the legal cycle for being susceptible to corruption. “What this has done is to put my integrity to question and they know that what they said is not true. They just derive ‎pleasure when they malign the integrity of a judicial office. “It is unfortunate that we don’t have the appropriate laws to take care of this. As it stands, I am caught between two devils, if the ‎judgment goes in favour of Saraki now they will say that I have been compromised, on the other hand, if it goes against him they will say I have been intimidated. “In light of the allegation, the right and appropriate thing to do is to disqualify myself and return the case-file to the Chief Judge for re-assignment to another Judge. “It is only in this country that people can wake up and start calling people names. “In the circumstance, I disqualify myself from this case. I will hereby send the case file to the chief judge for re-assignment to another judge.”