A human rights lawyer, Prof Mike Ozekhome SAN, has called for a fair hearing to be given to the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, in the probe of his administration.
A Kaduna House of Assembly committee was set up to probe the administration of the former governor of the state and had indicted El-Rufai on corruption charges and also made other recommendations.
But Ozekhome said while the committee had done its job, it was right to allow El-Rufai to defend himself against the charges.
“I’m not a Nostradamus, the man who saw tomorrow, nor am I the oracle at Ile Ife [in Osun State] that will go gaze into the future to pronounce it the next Ooni need to be. So, I wouldn’t be able to know what the outcome would be,” he said on Thursday’s edition of Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“But I think that whatever happens, El-Rufai must be given his right to a fair hearing. The assembly has just merely made a recommendation and told the governor to implement it.
“The governor may look at it and, and feel well, ‘This is not worth the energy at the time. Let’s face other [things]’. Others may say, ‘N423 billion they are accusing him of is not a small amount; let’s dig in.’ So, whatever the outcome would be, don’t forget that El-Rufai also has its own fundamental rights to protect. For example, he may decide to go to court to challenge the indictment itself.”
“Maybe you could say he was not given a fair trial. He was never called. I don’t know whether he was called to come and defend himself,” he said.
Ozekhome asked: “Was he duly invited? Was he given an opportunity to defend himself? If he was and he chose to stay back, that’s another ball game. So, because I do not have all those duties, it becomes peremptory for me to [comment on it]
“You don’t indict a person by proxy. No, you don’t, particularly in a matter that has criminal connotations. You can’t do that by proxy. So, it has to be the person,” the lawyer said.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
