The Special Offences Court in Lagos has refused to stop hearing the corruption allegations made against the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele.
Justice Rahman Oshodi in his ruling on Wednesday dismissed the request for him to recuse himself from the trial, stating that the allegations of bias against him were unsubstantiated.
Justice Oshodi particularly referenced a 2013 decision of the sitting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun to the effect that “Judicial bias is usually insufficient to justify disqualifying a judge from presiding over a case. To justify disqualification or recusal, the judge’s bias usually must be personal or based on some extrajudicial reason.”
The judge went on to cite other judicial precedents of the Supreme Court and subsequently held that the application for his recusal lacked merit and he promptly refused it.
