Sequel to the consistent delay in dispensing cases before the Jos Federal High Court II, due to the absence of the Judge, Justice Musa Kuriya for the past three weeks, some lawyers in Jos on Monday, expressed their displeasure.
However, the Registrar of the Jos Federal High Court, Barrister Nasir Hassan-Gusau pleaded with litigants and lawyers to be patient with the court following the stalemate, which he said will end “very soon.’’
“I am assuring you that very soon, the court will resume sitting but all the litigants and and their lawyers should understand with us and be patient for a while, ’’ Hassan-Gusau pleaded.
DAILYPOST gathered that Justice Kuriya is said to be among the six judges being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for alleged corruption, alongside some senior lawyers.
An anonymous source within the judicial circle in Plateau told our Correspondent that since the Judge left in response to the commission’s summon, he had not returned to Jos.
“The irony is that the court clerk keeps adjourning the cases in that court and he keeps telling litigants and lawyers that the court will sit the next day, all to no avail, ’’ the source alleged.
But some of the lawyers who spoke to journalists, complained bitterly over the continuous adjourning of cases, even when they had been coming from far distances for their cases only to be told that the judge was not sitting.
Barr. David Ibeawuchi, who has been coming from Abuja with his colleague, Barr. Aguiyi Ezeani for a post election matter concerning the Plateau House of Assembly, involving Ibrahim Baba-Hassan and Abdul Saleh, expressed his sadness over the situation.
Ibeawuchi said, “My worry is that my case before this court is a pre-election matter, with a year and seven months gone; yet we haven’t done much on it.
“Again, I and my colleague have been coming all the way from Abuja for this case; this is the third adjournment we have taken and it is not always safe to travel this far and at the end, the court won’t seat.”
Ibeawuchi queried, “did you see how we were fighting among ourselves over adjournment date for this matter?”
According to him, “while we, the counsels to the petitioner were asking for a short adjournment, the defending counsels were rooting for a long date.”
Also speaking, Barrister Ledak Dafer, Counsel to APC in the post election matter said, “I am certainly not happy with the development on hand because we have not heard from the judge all this while.”
“I know Justice Kuriya as one of the best Judges in this country and a man of his words but his absence and silence is worrisome considering the stalemate in cases in the court, ’’ he said.
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