In a legal standoff on Monday, Justice Keziah Ogbonnaya, a judge from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, chose not to step aside from adjudicating the libel suit initiated by former Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama.
Alleging defamation, Onyeama initiated legal action against Lillian Onoh, a career Ambassador and sister to his ex-wife, citing a succession of memos sent during his ministerial tenure as evidence before the court.
Before a resolution could be reached in court, the defendant requested the judge to recuse herself, citing allegations of bias.
In the ongoing case on Monday, Mr. Richard Aneke, the defendant’s attorney, appealed to Justice Ogbonnaya to recuse herself, putting forth the suggestion of a different adjudicator.
Mr Aneke drew the attention of the judge to a petition pending before the Chief Judge of the Court, which he said is seeking the reassignment of the case to another judge.
Additionally, he revealed that his client had submitted a petition to the National Judicial Council (NJC), urging disciplinary action against Justice Ogbonnaya for perceived partiality in her management of the case.
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One of the objections raised by the defendant was that both the presiding judge and the former Minister hail from Enugu State, raising concerns about potential bias.
Further allegations included a calculated collaboration between the erstwhile Minister and the judge to deprive her of justice, pinpointing this as the motivation for the reassignment of the case from Justice Eleojo Enenche.
Justice Ogbonnaya, in her ruling on Monday, dismissed the plea to step aside, underscoring that Chief Judge Hussein Baba-Yusuf of the FCT High Court had appropriately designated the case to her.
Meanwhile, in her ruling on Monday, Justice Ogbonnaya declined to recuse herself from the case which she said was duly assigned to her by the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court, Hussein Baba-Yusuf.
‘No judge assigns cases himself, it is the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court that assigns cases. It is the same Chief Judge that tells a judge to stop hearing a particular case.’
‘Unless and until the Chief Judge sends a copy of the petition to me for response, this case will go on.’
‘Since the Chief Judge has not ordered for the reassignment of this case, this matter shall continue in this court. That is the order of this court,’ the judge held.
The hearing is set to continue on December 14 as the case was adjourned accordingly.