A Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday finally dismissed an application seeking an order to extradite the Ogun-East senator in the National Assembly, Buruji Kashamu, to the United States of America to face trial on alleged illicit drugs–related offences.

The immediate past Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), had filed the application on May 28, 2015 upon a request by the U.S. asking the Nigerian government to surrender Kashamu to be prosecuted on one count of drug-related charge pending against him before the United States District Court for the Northern Illinois, Eastern Division.

But Justice Gabriel Kolawole, in his ruling on Wednesday, held that he lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit while the judgment of the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court, nullifying the extradition application on May 27, 2015, and the same judgment affirmed by another judge of the same Lagos division on June 23, had not been set aside by any appellate court.

Justice Okon Abang of the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court had on May 27, 2015, nullified the extradition proceedings which he said were initiated in contravention of an earlier order of the court delivered in 2013.

Abang’s orders nullifying the extradition proceedings were affirmed by Justice Ibrahim Buba of the same Lagos Division of the court in a ruling delivered on June 23, 2015.

Justice Kolawole, however, expressed reservations about the judgments delivered in Lagos, expressing concern on whether the judges could validly nullify the proceedings before another judge of the same level of jurisdiction.

Describing the verdicts from Lagos as wild, audacious and breathtaking, he however held that it was the exclusive duty of the Court of Appeal to determine whether they were rightly or wrongly given.

“They (the orders made in Lagos) are no doubt, by my assessment, very wide, perhaps wild orders with the greatest respect to their Lordships, and they are seemingly audacious if not breathtaking,” Justice Kolawole held.

But the judge held that the court orders in three different suits – FHC/L/CS/49/2010, FHC/L/CS/508/2015 and FHC/L/CS/763/2015 – barring any move by the AGF to initiate extradition proceedings against Kashamu remained valid as long as they had not been set aside by any appellate court.
Justice Kolawole added that the applicant failed to show that it had appealed against any of the court’s decisions.

“The applicant has not produced any material before me to show that these orders have been appealed against and or have been set aside by the appellate courts,” he ruled.

Relying on precedent judgments of the Supreme Court, Justice Kolawole held that he would be acting unconstitutionally if he further allowed the applicant, the Attorney-General of the Federation, to continue to violate the order of court.

Justice Kolawole held, “The said orders were not made against my court but against the applicant and until it is set aside or reversed by the appellate courts, this court will be acting unconstitutionally to aid the applicant to persevere in its act of contempt to the said orders.

“The constitutional duty and obligation that this court has and must exercise is to ensure that the process of this court is not abused and the sanctity of its extant orders regardless of whatever issues is preserved and protected.”

The judge therefore declined to grant an application for warrant of arrest against Kashamu as requested by the counsel representing the AGF, Mr. Muslim Hassan, during the hearing of Kashamu’s objection against the application on June 25, 2015.

The judge said it would amount to assisting the applicant to flout court orders if he issued the warrant of arrest against the respondent.

He held, “Based on these orders, this court will be acting perhaps unconstitutionally in aiding the applicant to flout and disobey extant orders of court of competent jurisdiction by appending my signature to the arrest warrant which the applicant has prepared and applied for on the proceedings of 25th June 2015.

“In concluding, I am unable to exercise jurisdiction in accordance with section 6, 7 and 8 of the Extradition Act to accede to the application for warrant to effect the arrest of the respondent because the orders of Abang and Buba J. (Justices) of the Federal High Court sitting in the Lagos Judicial Division have not been appealed against by the applicant or have they been set aside by any appellate court.

“Secondly, the application dated May 27, 2015 and filed on May 28, 2015 by the applicant was filed in contravention of the orders made by Abang J (Justice) and in any case this suit has been nullified by the certain orders made by Abang J on June 8, 2015.

“Based on the above analysis, having regard to the second orders made by Abang J., the extradition proceedings were initiated in violation of injunctive order granted by Abang J. on May 27, 2015.

“The extradition proceedings were initiated in flagrant disobedience or an extant order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

“The suit is hereby dismissed.”

The court reiterated that “the judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction remains valid and binding unless and until it is set aside by the lower court itself where it acted without jurisdiction.

Kashamu’s counsel, Mr. Ajibola Oluyede, had on June 25, 2015, when the case came up for the first time before Justice Kolawole, said in the light of the pronouncements of the Lagos Divison of the court, the only business that could be entertained that day was for the judge to strike out the suit.

But the AGF’s lawyer, Hassan, had opposed the prayer for striking out the suit, arguing that the judgment by Justice Abang was “overreaching” since the suit he nullified was not before him.

The then AGF stated in the application, FHC/ABJ/CS/479/2015, that Kashamu, who is described by the US government as being also known as Alhaji and Kashmal, was a subject of a one count Second Superseding Indictment in criminal case No 94 CR 172 filed before the Illinois court on May 21, 1998.

An affidavit deposed to by the Assistant US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Diane MacArthur, attached to the extradition request from the US government, was said to be dated April 27, 2015.

By the US government’s charge against him, Kashamu allegedly conspired with others to intentionally import “and did import” into the United States” quantities of mixtures containing heroin between 1992 and 1995.

The offence for which Kashamu is allegedly wanted in the US is said to contravene Section 952(a) of Title 21, United States Code, and punishable under section 960 of the same law.

The penalty for the offence on conviction under the law, according to the charge, is an imprisonment of not more than 10 years or a fine of up to $10m in the case of an individual, or both.

Meanwhile, Hassan has said that the FG will appeal Justice Kolawole’s judgment before the end of this week.

Confirming the FG’s position to our correspondent in a telephone interview, Hassan said, “We are going to appeal against the judgment as soon as we get the Certified True Copy of the judgment. We have already applied for the CTC of the judgment and hopefully we should be able to file our appeal before the end of the week.”


http://www.punchng.com/news/court-dismisses-application-to-extradite-kashamu/

Kashamu is a done deal, and will have his day in court in the US one day and i hope soon.

FACT:

Relying on precedent judgments of the Supreme Court, Justice Kolawole held that he would be acting unconstitutionally if he further allowed the applicant, the Attorney-General of the Federation, to continue to violate the order of court.

#change!

Osun state workers should be protesting against Buruji Kashamu's extradition or have they forgotten so soon what it means to come to one's aid when you are hungry.