NJC suspends judge for ‘age falsification’

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has suspended Francis Chukwuma Abosi, acting president of the customary court of appeal, and Aliyu Musa Liman, a judge of Bauchi state high court, over judicial misconduct.

In a statement by Soji Oye, the council’s director of information, “Abosi was recommended for compulsory retirement following the falsification of his date of birth from 1950 to 1958”.

“Findings showed that he was supposed to have retired in November 2015 when he clocked the mandatory retirement age of Sixty five (65) years,” he said.

“Council decided to recommend for his compulsory retirement to governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State and to also deduct the salaries he had earned from November 2015 to date from his retirement benefit.”

The NJC also forwarded its recommendation for the compulsory retirement of Liman to the governor of Bauchi state for failing to deliver judgment in a case for over four years.

“Musa Liman was recommended to the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed for compulsory retirement pursuant to the findings by the council for his failure to deliver judgement in suit No BA/100/2010, between Abubakar Isa and Sheik Tahir Usman Bauchi within the three months period stipulated by the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria,” Oye said.

“Council viewed his lordship’s failure to deliver judgement for nearly four years as a misconduct, contrary to section 292 (1)(b) of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended and rules 1.3 and 3.7 of the 2016 revised code of conduct for judicial officers of the federal republic of Nigeria.”

The two judges have been suspended pending the approval of the recommendation for their compulsory retirement by their state governors.

Petitions against O.A. Musa, justice of the high court of the FCT; Muhammed A. Sambo and Sa’ad Ibrahim Zadawa of the high court of Justice, Bauchi state, were dismissed for “either lacking in merit or being subjudice”.