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Four persons suspected to be involved in the murder of a Kaduna based Islamic preacher, Sheik Auwal Adam Albani and his family members, were on Tuesday arraigned before a federal high court in Abuja by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. The suspects, Yakubu Abdullahi (alias Alhaji Bala), Yasir Salihu (alias Dan Birnin), Bilyaminu Usman (alias Bilya) and Musa Abubakar (alias Mallam), were accused of conspiring to kill the cleric,  his wife and son on 1st of February. In a seven counts charge read to them at their arraignment, they were alleged to have killed the prominent cleric and leader of the Sallafiyya Movement in Zaria, Kaduna State, his wife Umma Abdul-Bari Albani and 18 year old son, Abdullahi Albani with two AK-47 rifles. The offences which the authorities described as terrorist acts, are punishable under sections 17, 5 (1), and 16 of the Terrorism Prevention Act, 2011. They however pleaded not guilty to all the counts of the ch...

Former governor of Adamawa state, Admiral Murtala Nyako, has accused the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, of frustrating his case challenging the legality of his impeachment by the Adamawa state House of Assembly. The impeached former governor alleged that the Chief Judge had withdrawn the case file from the Adamawa division of the federal high court where the case was being heard just a few days to the delivery of judgement by the trial judge, Justice Bilikisu Aliyu. Nyako's lawyer, Mr. Olukoya Ogunbele, at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, appealed to the Chief Judge to immediately release the case file so that the trial judge can deliver judgement in the interest of justice. He stated that the withdrawal of a case file few days to judgement date by any judicial officer, is in bad taste and should not be condoned. The Federal high court has however denied the claims of the former givernor. In its reaction, the Chief Registrar of ...

A Court of Appeal siting in Abuja on Monday, upheld the victory of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state in the June 21, 2014 governorship election. In a decision delivered by a full panel of the court and headed by Justice Abdul Aboki, the court held that the APC did not prove beyond reasonable doubt that Fayose's certificate issued by the Polytechnic Ibadan, was forged. The court noted that the issuing institution which was the Polytechnic Ibadan had forwaded a letter stating that the certificate in contention was issued by it noting that the party failed to provide any evidence before the court to show that the certificate was forged. The opposition All Progressive Congress, APC, had approached the court challenging the decision of the Ekiti state Governorship Election PetitionTribunal which sat and affirmed the Governor's victory in Abuja last December. The APC had claimed that the Tribunal erred by dismissing the ground of its petition on the alleged certificate ...

Justice Ahmed Mohammed of a federal high court in Abuja on Monday referred a suit seeking constitutional interpretations on the eligibility of President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the next presidential election having inherited the remnant of the tenure of the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua, to the Court of Appeal for determination. The judge ordered for the referral in a ruling he delivered following an application for referral filed on the 28th of last November by two lawyers, Mr. Adejumo Ajagbe and Mr. Olatoye Wahab. The duo had sued the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, seeking to restrain them from allowing Jonathan to participate in next presidential election on the ground that his second and final term term would end on May 29 this year. They had filed the application for referral to the appallate court while their substantive suit was being heard by the trial court wherein they urged t...

Legal proceedings commenced Monday before Justice Adeniyi Ademola of a  federal high court in Abuja in suits challenging the eligibility of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari rtd., the Presidential candidate of the opposition All Progresive Congress, APC, to participate in the forthcoming presidential election which date has been shifted by the Independent National Election Commission, INEC,   from 14th February to 28th March, 2015 . The main suit which seeks for the disqualification of Buhari and filed by Barr Max Ozoaka had prominent senior advocates of Nigeria, including Chief Wole Olanipekun, Akin Olujinmi, Lateef Fagbemi, Emeka Ngige, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, James Ocholi, Funke Aboyede, Femi Falana, all lined up in defence of Buhari while another set of senior advocates of Nigeria, comprising of Ade Okeaya Ineh, Godwin Obla and Ken Njamanze, appeared for the plaintiff, Barr Ozoaka. Buhari's lead lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun, indicated to the court that in view of the add...