The Kogi state governorship election petition tribunal has
ordered Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to
appear before it on Tuesday.
A three-member panel of justices led by Ado Birnin-Kudu
agreed with Alex Izinyon, counsel to Usman Ododo, governor of Kogi state, that
Cardoso is in contempt of court by failing to honour a subpoena.
The court had on April 18, issued a “subpoena to compel the
CBN governor or any of its officials to attend the proceedings to give
explanations on the role of the apex bank in the November 11, 2023, off-cycle
election” in Kogi.
Although the panel directed the “CBN governor or its
official to appear on April 19 to testify”, there was no representative from
the apex bank on the hearing day.
At the resumed proceedings on Monday, Izinyon said he was
aware that the CBN management, in a letter to the tribunal, said they would not
be available until April 26.
He said though his team had planned to call witnesses within
five days, the issue of the subpoena must be dealt with before proceeding.
Izinyon, who said he expected an officer from the legal
department of CBN to be at the tribunal on Monday, described the letter by the
apex bank as “an act of contempt.”
He said the CBN team should be at the tribunal on Tuesday to
give evidence, noting that if they failed to appear, it would be in the court record,
going by the fact that the matter is time-bound.
“If by tomorrow, we call our last witnesses and they (CBN
officers) are not here, we urge my lord to look at our application in the
interest of justice,” he said.
Other respondents’ lawyers and counsel for the petitioners
aligned with Izinyon’s application.
Delivering the ruling, Birnin-Kudu held that the subpoena
was to the CBN governor and director of the corporate service of the apex bank.
He said the subpoena is a command in the name of the
president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
The judge held that the act of writing to the tribunal by
the apex bank that its officials will be available on April 26 “is contemptuous
and condemnable”.
The panel then adjourned the matter until April 23 for the
continuation of the 2nd respondent’s defence and for the CBN to show cause.
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