The Special Offences Court in Lagos has declined to halt the trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele over corruption allegations.
In a ruling on Wednesday, Justice Rahman Oshodi dismissed a request for his recusal, stating that claims of bias against him were unproven.
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Referring to various legal precedents, the judge emphasized that judicial bias alone is not enough to warrant disqualification or recusal unless it is personal or stems from specific judicial reasoning.
Consequently, he ruled that the application for his recusal lacked merit and rejected it.
During Monday’s hearing, Emefiele’s lead counsel, Olalekan Ojo (SAN), had asked Justice Oshodi to step down from the case.
Ojo argued that by allowing the prosecution to pose a leading question—despite the defence’s objection—the judge had made it difficult for the defence to conduct a fair cross-examination. He, therefore, requested the judge’s withdrawal from the proceedings.
