Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, CJN, and Chairman of NJC
The National Judicial Council (NJC) has quashed the decision of the Edo State Chief Judge (CJ), Justice Daniel Iyobosa Okungbowa, to reassign to another judge for fresh hearing the N5 billion libel suit filed by the former Resident Electoral Commissioner for Akwa Ibom State, Mike Igini, against the former Edo State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) David Imuse, a retired army colonel and medical doctor.
The NJC ordered Justice Okungbowa to return the case to the initial trial judge, Hon. Justice Eboreime, to continue and determine the case, rebuking the CJ for abuse of judicial discretion which favoured only one party without considering the interests of the 2nd and 3rd defendants.
Newsmata.com.ng recalls that the former REC of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had filed the suit against Imuse over an allegation he made at a press conference in Auchi, Estako West Local Government Area of Edo State, in the build up to the August 21, 2020, governorship election in the state which he claimed defamed him.
At the said press conference, Imuse alleged that Igini was spotted at the residence of the then Governor Godwin Obaseki, carrying the popular ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ bag which allegedly contained money given to him as bribe to manipulate the outcome of the election in his favour.
Obaseki, who was forced to resign from the APC after he was denied a second term ticket, moved over to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where he became the new party’s candidate, pitching him against Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the APC governorship flagbearer.
Embarrassed by the contents of the press conference, Igini demanded instant retraction and apology from Imuse and when that failed, he approached the court where he asked for damages in the sum of N5 billion alongside full retraction and apologies published in some daily newspapers.
The African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc, Publishers the Tribune Titles and The Sun Newspapers were joined as second and third defendants respectively.
For the first three years of hearing of the matter before Justice Vestee Eboreime of the Edo High Court sitting in Benin City, Imuse, the first defendant, did not file his defense until the claimant, Igini, closed his case, and was on the verge of asking for foreclosure against the first defendant.
Months later, after the second and third defendants had opened and closed their defense, Imuse sought the approval of Justice Okungbowa to have the matter start de novo on the ground that the trial judge, Justice Eboreime, had been transferred to the Okada Division of the Edo State High Court, a request that was curiously granted without recourse to any of the remaining three parties.
The CJ also surprisingly overruled the written objections of the three other parties, who, on getting wind of the reassignment of the matter to a new judge for the case to start de novo, kicked against the move.
Provoked by the development, Igini, on November 4, 2024, four years after the matter was first mentioned, petitioned the NJC complaining about the injustice and miscarriage of justice the decision of the Edo CJ constituted by asking a four-year trial to start de novo just because the party that caused all the mishaps the matter had suffered, asked for it.
The NJC, at its 109th Meeting held on June 26, 2025, reversed Justice Okungbowa’s decision. Upholding Igini’s arguments canvassed in his petition, the NJC advised the CJ to use his “discretion power judiciously and judicially” in future matters, affirming that granting the request for a de novo trial amounted to abuse of judicial discretion.
Furthermore, on July 18, 2025, the NJC, in a direct response to Igini’s petition, conveyed the decisions of the Council to the complainant, and ordered the trial judge, Justice Eboreime “to continue and determine the case.”
The NJC’s letter with ref No. NJC/S.12/ED.HC/14/1/353/, with the headline: DENIAL OF JUSTICE AND FRUSTRATION OF MY CASE AFTER A FOUR-YEAR TRIAL BY THE HONOURABLE CHIEF JUDGE OF EDO STATE IN SUIT NO: B/555/2020 – HON. MIKE IGINI V. COL. DAVID IMUSE RTD & ORS (FORMERLY PENDING BEFORE HON. JUSTICE V. O. EBOREIME), and signed by Ahmed Gambo Saleh, NJC Secretary, reads in parts:
“Your petition dated 05 November 2024, on the above subject matter and the response to same by Hon. Justice Daniel Iyabosa Okungbowa, Chief Judge, Edo State, were considered by the National Judicial Council at its 109″ Meeting, held on 26 June 2025.
“Council finds that the 1″ Defendant wrote a petition against Hon. Justice Eboreime to the Chief Judge of Edo State, alleging bias and seeking transfer of this advanced partly heard matter to another Judge.
“Incidentally, the petition was not served on the Plaintiff, 2nd and 3rd Defendants before the Chief Judge transferred the case to another Judge to start de novo.
“Council also finds on record that when the Plaintiff, 2nd and 3d Defendants got wind of the transfer, they objected on the grounds that they had closed their cases, were not consulted and starting de novo would cause them financial and physical hardship.
“Furthermore, Council finds that the Chief Judge exercised his discretion in favour of the 1s Defendant alone and without consideration of the interest of the Plaintiff, the 2nd and 3rd Defendants.
“Council has therefore resolved to advise the Chief Judge to transfer the matter to Hon. Justice Eboreime to continue and determine the case”.