Elizabeth Karatu, acting chief
judge of Kebbi state, has accused Atiku Bagudu, the governor, of refusing to
confirm her as substantive judge because of her religious affiliation.
According to Daily Nigerian,
Karatu petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC) over the issue.
Karatu was appointed by Bagudu on
October 30, 2017, following the retirement of Bala Mairiga.
He recommended her to the state
house of assembly as a replacement for Mairiga but the lawmakers were said to
have refused to confirm her appointment over alleged falsification of her
primary school certificate.
“This Honorable House will not
clear any nominee who comes before it with altered credentials. It is now left
for the government to decide on who to send as a nominee to the House,”
Abdulmumin Kamba, speaker of the house, had said.
On November 14, 2018, Bagudu
resubmitted Karatu’s name to the house for confirmation.
Karatu was reportedly confirmed
on January 17, 2019, but the governor refused to act on the assembly’s
confirmation.
Karatu is due to retire on July 5
from active service.
“After the retirement of Justice
Ibrahim Bala, I was sworn in as Acting Chief Judge being the most Senior Judge.
However, before my confirmation, Justice Ambursa engaged in trading with the
Governor and the Speaker of the House of Assembly and indeed to the public that
I was sponsored by the Christians Association of Nigeria to serve the
Christendom,” the petition read.
“He spent a lot of money in
forestalling my confirmation at the House, and eventually the house rejected me
on the ground of alteration on my certificate which I believed must have been
cooked by Justice Ambursa.
“I have been working for 35 years
up to the rank of Permanent Secretary and later became a Judge but Justice
Ambursa has never complained about my religion, in fact most of his victims are
Muslims rather than Christians. I therefore believe that he is just using
religion for his person gain. I was a Muslim before and all my Children are
still devoted Muslims. I know what Islam is all about; it is religion of peace,
fairness and Justice.”
She also reportedly said Mohammed
Ambursa, the judge appointed to replace her, played a plot in frustrating her
confirmation.
She accused Ramatu Gulma, the
state attorney general and “an ally to Justice Ambursa”, of sabotaging the
committee of reconciliation set up by the NJC in May to prevail on the governor
to confirm her.
According to her, Gulma
purportedly painted her as an enemy of the government “because I ordered the
detention of family members of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo who were
suspected to have committed the offence Fraud of Millions of Naira before Chief
Magistrate Court in Birnin Kebbi”.
Daily Nigerian quoted Babale
Yauri, secretary to the state government, as saying Bagudu refused to confirm
Karatu because of “some discrepancies in her credentials” and not her religion.
Yauri added that the letter purportedly
sent to the governor by the state assembly is fake as it was not duly signed.
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