Penultimate week, the government of Saudi Arabia restrained the movement of Bauchi State Chief Judge and Amirul Hajj, Justice Sabo Suleiman Darazo from entering the city of Medina following his inability to secure official passport. Adamu Bello, Chairman of Giade Local Government Area of Bauchi State was earlier appointed as the Amirul Hajj to lead the Bauchi State delegation to Saudi Arabia but when Malam Isa Yuguda, the State governor suspended all the LG chairmen in his state, he appointed Justice Darazo to replace him.

Other media reports confirmed that though Justice Darazo did not have the official passport as required, yet he led about 2000 pilgrims from Bauchi State to Saudi Arabia. A source said the restriction of Justice Darazo to the city of Medina in Saudi Arabia was an embarrassment to the people of Bauchi State and a confirmation of prevalence of lawlessness and abuse of due process in the state.

The challenge Justice Darazo has to confront is enormous as various petitions of misconducts and abuse of judicial process in Bauchi State were written against him to Supreme Court of Nigeria, National Judicial Council, Judicial Service Commission, President of Court of Appeal, and Nigeria Bar Association, among others.

All Nigeria Peoples Party, Bauchi State Chapter is praying all these bodies in charge of judiciary affairs in the country to intervene in the judiciary process in the state in order to check the misconducts and excesses of Justice Darazo which according to the petitioner has become a willing tool in the hands of the Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda.

Things began to fall apart when Governor Isa Yuguda, early this year defected to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), the party that provided platform for him to contest after he was shown the way out from the former during its primaries.

The predicament of Yuguda was intensified when the then Deputy Governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Garba Gadi refused to defect to PDP with him as he viewed the action as a betrayal of trust and confidence the people of the state had on them. The governor, who saw the action of his second in command as slap on his face, made concerted effort to remove Gadi from office through the state house of assembly.

The 17 members of ANPP in the Bauchi State House of Assembly who were initially adamant to decamp with Yuguda to the ruling PDP later agreed to dump ANPP and immediately proceeded to impeach the deputy governor after an alleged N10 million bribe was given to each of them. The then speaker of the state house of assembly, Hon. Babayo Garba Gamawa who also noticed that the misfortune of the then deputy governor, Gadi could metamorphose to his own fortune ensured that he (Gadi) was removed from the office by all means. Gamawa was picked as the deputy governor of the state after supervising the impeachment process of Gadi at the state house of assembly.

In a petition dated 20th October, 2009 to the Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Nigeria and a copy each to National Judicial Council, President of the Court of Appeal, Nigeria Bar Association and Judicial Service Commission, Bauchi State as well as Justice Sabo Suleiman Darazo and ANPP National Secretariat, the petitioner in what is tilted “Unprofessional Conduct and Abuse of Judicial Process by the Chief Judge of Bauchi State, Justice Suleiman Darazo” is appealing for timely intervention in addressing the ugly situation in Bauchi State.

Few days before Yuguda defected to PDP, he announced the suspension of Alhaji Sani Shehu as the Chairman of ANPP, Bauchi State Chapter and replaced him with Alhaji Musa Haruna Shittu. Dissatisfied with this action of the governor, Shehu approached Bauchi State High Court praying for an order to set aside the decision of the governor suspending him as the Bauchi State Chairman of ANPP.

The presiding judge, Justice Bala Umar of Court 2, granted the prayer of Shehu on 25th March, 2009. The judge said “That an order be and is hereby made, maintaining status quo ante between and amongst the parties in this suit pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.” He said an order of interim injunction is granted restraining the 1st respondent (Musa Haruna Shittu) whether by himself, or his agents, privies or any person deriving authority from him from parading himself as the Bauchi State Caretaker Chairman of the ANPP pending the hearing and determination of motion on notice.

Following this order of Justice Umar which the governor and Shittu saw as unfavourable to them, the latter went back to the same High Court but now in court 8 shaking for an order setting aside the decision of court 2 and to declare him (Shittu) as the ANPP Chairman on the ground that there was abuse of court process in court 2. The Court 8 in what seems like a drama granted the request of Shittu on April 1 and consequently asking Shehu Sani from parading himself as the Chairman of ANPP which was against the earlier judgment of court 2.

However, on April 8 Justice Umar of Court 2 over-ruled the said application, holding that the issues and parties in the two suits were different and still maintained that his earlier orders among which is the one restraining Musa Haruna Shittu from parading himself as the Bauchi State ANPP Chairman still stands pending the determination of the motion on notice.

The Bauchi State Chief Judge, Justice Darazo which the petitioner alleged was behind the whole scenario for the sole purpose of doing the bidding of Governor Yuguda later transferred the case from Justice Umar and assigned it to himself. Subsequently, Justice Darazo fixed October 28, 2009 for ruling on whether the case should start afresh as demanded by the counsel to Shittu or continued from where it stopped.

“It is important to note that Musa Haruna Shittu is Malam Isa Yuguda's candidate and in order to gain the favour of the Governor, Justice Sabo Darazo decided to adjourn the matter for four months excluding vacations instead of 14 days as required by law all in attempt to frustrate me,” Shehu affirmed in the petition.

The petitioner said it is truism that judiciary is the last hope of the common man but “with what Justice Darazo is doing now, it is easy to conclude that only those in authority or wealthy can afford justice as dished out by Judges like Justice Darazo and I am soliciting your able intervention to check the ugly scenario.”

When the Bauchi State House of Assembly served the former deputy governor of the state, Alhaji Garba Gadi, with the notice of gross misconduct, Justice Sabo Darazo quickly constituted a seven-man panel to investigate him without recourse to the house of assembly. The house of assembly discovering the likely effect of his action passed a resolution sacking the said panel and officially instructed the Chief Judge to constitute another committee.

According to the petitioner, “the acts of Justice Sabo Darazo, as some right thinking people of the society maintain, is that Justice Darazo was in the meeting held between Malam Isa Yuguda and Bauchi State Assembly members where a unanimous decision was reached to impeach the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Garba Gadi. During the said meeting, each member (excluding Minority Members) was promised the sum of ten million naira (N10m) and only God knows what had transpired between Malam Isa Yuguda and Justice Sabo Darazo.”

The petitioner alleged that when Alhaji Gadi challenged the competence of those members of Bauchi State House of Assembly that participated in his removal after having decamped to PDP, counsel to the state lawmakers brought a motion challenging the jurisdiction of the court among other grounds. However, when the presiding judge, Justice Habibu Shall ruled that he has the jurisdiction to entertain the matter Yuguda and Darazo were not happy, leading to a request to transfer the case from Justice Habibu.

Through an alleged meeting of Yuguda, Darazo and Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Yukubu Bello Kirfi, according to the petitioner, a letter was written by Kirfi to Chief Judge, Darazo expressing lack of confidence in Justice Habibu Shall's court. The letter is seeking the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Darazo to transfer the case from Habibu to another person or possibly to re-assign it to himself just like the case before Justice Bala Umar.

The petitioner alleged that Justice Darazo who is regretting assigning the case to Justice Habibu Shall on receiving the letter from the Attorney General, Kirfi, wrote a letter to Gadi's counsel requesting his opinion on the matter.

According to the petitioner, Darazo is searching furiously for a favourably court to do his bidding.
Hon. Babayo Garba Gamawa was picked as the Deputy Governor of Bauchi State shortly after he presided over the impeachment processes of the then Deputy Governor, Alhaji Gadi. Selection of the then Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Gamawa necessitated an election in his constituency. Independent National Electoral Commission scheduled October 17 for the by-election but in another dramatic circumstance, this election did not take place as Darazo stopped it.

When Shehu presented Alhaji Sanusi Shehu as the ANPP flag bearer to the Bauchi State House of Assembly by-election in Gamawa Constituency, the ANPP factional leader, Shittu also provided a candidate for the same election. Sources said Yuguda mandated Shittu to produce a candidate for the by-election in order to avoid ridiculing himself and PDP as it was obvious that the latter would find it very difficult to win the election based on the prevailing circumstance.

In view of the controversy over who should be considered as the authentic candidate of ANPP in the by-election, INEC sought for clarification from the National Secretariat of ANPP and only the candidate of Sani Shehu was recognized as the authentic candidate for Gamawa constituency by-election by the party. It could be recalled that on July, 20, 2009 ANPP National Secretary, Senator Saidu Kumo wrote a letter to A. H. Suleiman Esq and A.H. Suleiman & Co Justice Chamber notifying that Alhaji Sani Shehu is the authentic Bauchi State Chairman of the party and that there was no any pending court case between him (Shehu) and ANPP.

Two days to the by-election, when Musa Haruna Shittu discovered that his candidate would no longer be recognized as ANPP flag bearer of the said election he went to the State High Court seeking the Court to restrain INEC from conducting the by-election. Desert Herald gathered that many people of the state did not take Shittu serious as he ignored Federal High Court in the State and went straight to the State High Court when it was obvious that Bauchi State High Court does not have jurisdiction over federal bodies like INEC. But to the surprise of many of them, Justice Darazo of the State High Court granted Shittu's prayer.

The Chief Judge of Bauchi State, Sabo Suleiman Darazo, after assigning to himself the suit No: BA/271/2009 seeking for an order to restrain INEC from conducting the by-election, afterward stopped the election and adjourned the case to November 4. The petitioner is alleging that the state high court does not have the jurisdiction over INEC and wonders why Darazo would ridicule the judiciary process in the state to the extend of arrogating power that does not belong to the State High Court to himself.

Justice Darazo on Thursday, October 15, ordered “That the 3rd Defendant/Respondent by its agents, cohort be and are hereby restrained from further recognizing by any means whatsoever Alhaji Sanusi the 2nd Defendant/Respondent as the 1st Plaintiff/Applicant's candidate for Gamawa state house of assembly by-election pending the determination of the motion on notice.” The Defendants/Respondents include Alhaji Sani Shehu, Alhaji Sanushi Shehu and INEC.

He further said “That form CF 007 for Gamawa House of Assembly by-election issued to 1st and 2nd Defendants/Respondents by the 3rd Defendants/Respondent be and is hereby declared as of no effect or consequence having been obtained by fraud.”

The petitioner said Darazo deliberately adjourned the case to November 4, the date he knew very well he will not be around in the court as he was being compensated with the position of Amirul Hajj to lead Bauchi State delegation to Saudi Arabia.

According to the petitioner, there is a Federal High Court in Bauchi State, yet Justice Darazo of Bauchi State High Court curiously entertained an action filed against INEC where he did not have jurisdiction. Justice Darazo is expected to retire from public service next year but the petitioner is praying the Supreme Court, National Judicial Council as well as all other relevant bodies in judiciary sector to urgently move into action to force Justice Darazo proceed on retirement with immediate effect.

Desert Herald learnt that the Bauchi State Chief Judge, Justice Sabo Darazo was not around on Wednesday October 28 and November 4 to attend to the cases he assigned to himself. However, the petitioner said “The foregoing scenario irresistibly outlines the kind of judiciary and justice, Justice Sabo Darazo is superintending in Bauchi State. In fact, all the judges Justice Darazo is heading are far better than him in terms of good justice delivery and I am constrained to draw your attention with pains that unless something is done urgently, the remaining one year of Justice Sabo Darazo will unleash hardship to litigants in the state”

When the Chairman of the State Hajj Publicity Committee, Malam Aminu Ibrahim was contacted over the sudden development in Saudi Arabia, he said the situation was caused by the last minute change of the Amirul Hajj by the state government. He said the replaced Adamu Bello had been issued with an official passport before his removal. On the petition against Justice Darazo, Desert Herald learnt that a copy of it has been given to him. However, our correspondent also made concerted effort to get his comment before going to the press but it was not fruitful. None of the officials of the court was also willing to comment on the matter and even his secretary, Umar Sanda Mohammed, did not answer the call when this correspondent tried to get his view on phone.