El-Rufai: Court Grants Order For Prof. Chidi Odinkalu To Apply For Judicial Review

A High Court sitting at Kaduna State has granted leave for Prof. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu to apply for judicial review.

The Certified True Copy of the said Court Order is dated 20th day of January, 2020 and made available to TheNigerialawyer (TNL)

Prof. Odinkalu had filed a Motion Exparte against the Commissioner of Police, Chief Magistrate Court, Ibrahim Taiwo Road (Ibrahim Musa, Esq and Governor of Kaduna State pursuant to Orders 15 and 37 of the Kaduna State High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2007 and under the inherent powers and jurisdiction of the Honourable Court seeking for

“An Order of this Honourable Court granting the Applicant leave to apply for a judicial review by way of an Order for Certiorari in case KMD/ /2019 between the state v Prof. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu”

Prof. Chidi further sought an Order staying proceedings in respect of the case pending the determination of the Applicant’s Motion on Notice and an omnibus prayer.

Having listened to Gloria Ballason, Esq., counsel for the Applicant and reading the 6 paragraphs Affidavit and the written address in support, the court granted all the reliefs in the Motion Exparte. The court held:

“Leave is hereby granted to apply for a judicial review by way of an Order for Certiorari in case KMD/ /2019 between the state v Prof. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu”

“Order is hereby granted stipulating that the granting of leave of paragraph 1 above shall operate in the interim to stay proceedings in case KMD/ /2019 between the state v Prof. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu pending the hearing of the Motion on Notice”

TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL) recalls that Kaduna State Government had filed a Direct Criminal Complaint on March, 2019 against a human rights advocate, Chidi Odinkalu, for “injurious falsehood” and incitement instituted against him.

The Chief Magistrate’s Court in Kaduna has been hearing the matter since the charges were filed in March.

Prof. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu is a Nigerian human rights activist, lawyer and writer. He was the former Chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission (Nigeria) and currently the senior team manager for the Africa Program of Open Society Justice Initiative(OSJI). He has worked as an advisor for the Ford Foundation New York, World Bank, African Union, International Council for Human Rights Policy, Geneva; and many others. In 2018, he coauthored a book titled Too Good to Die with Ayisha Osori