EFCC accuses Judge of bias on Fayose’s case

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) appears frustrated in the prosecution of former Governor Ayodele Fayose and resorted to accuse Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of bias in handling the suit against for Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State. Thus, the commission seeks the transfer of the case to another judge.

The EFCC acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, in a petition dated March 21, 2019, requested the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Adamu Abdu-Kafarati, to transfer the trial of Fayose to another judge.

Magu protested that when the case was filed in 2018, Justice Olatoregun, who is the administrative judge of the court in Lagos, assigned the suit to herself despite being from the same state with Fayose.

The EFCC chairman complained that despite protests from many civil society organizations, Justice Olatoregun still carried on with the case.

The petition read in part: “Advocates for Anti-corruption and Sustainability of Good Governance in Nigeria, wrote a petition against the judge which petition was subsequently forwarded to the EFFC’s prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), for his comments and he replied expressing confidence in Justice Olatoregun.”

Magu expressed that EFCC is withdrawing its confidence in the trial judge after the altercation between her and the EFCC counsel in open court on the 20th of March, 2019.

It was narrated that on that day, Justice Olatoregun had engaged in “unrestrained, unprovoked, and unwarranted vituperations” against the prosecuting counsel, which Magu, in the petition, said are indicative of the fact that she has an axe to grind with Jacobs and the EFCC.

The petition contended that the judge has confirmed the fears and doubts of the Civil Society Organisations and has made the commission agree with them that it cannot get justice on the case in her court.

“It is obvious that Justice Olatoregun cannot dispassionately and transparently try the case and the EFCC is constrained to state that it has lost confidence in her ability to do so. The EFCC, therefore, requests a transfer of the case to another judge of the court for trial,” Magu stated.