Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court in Kano State has issued a 48-hour ultimatum for two Kano judges, Justice Farouk Lawan Adamu and Justice Zuwaira Yusuf, to resign from their roles in overseeing the probe of former governor Abdullahi Ganduje. The judges were appointed by Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf to lead judicial commissions investigating misappropriated public properties and assets, political violence, and missing persons.
The directive came in response to a case filed by Ganduje, seeking to halt Governor Yusuf’s investigative initiatives into his administration. Justice Amobeda warned that if the judges do not comply, the National Judicial Council (NJC) will stop their remuneration, allowances, and benefits.
Amobeda ruled that the Governor’s decision to set up commissions without appealing a prior judgment by Justice A. Liman, which stated Ganduje could only be investigated by the EFCC or ICPC, undermined the judiciary’s sanctity. He emphasized that the Governor has no power to appoint judges to executive roles within the commissions of inquiry, as it breaches the separation of powers and the Constitution.
The court ordered the judges to resign from their executive roles within 48 hours or face suspension of their judicial compensation by the NJC. The respondents in the lawsuit are the NJC, Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Attorney-General of Kano State, and the two judges.