Justice Adeniyi Ademola has tendered his letter of voluntary retirement from the bench of the Federal High Court.
The judge was due for his statutory retirement in March 2018 but suddenly turned in his letter of resignation dated December 6, 2017 on Thursday.
Although his one-paragraph letter was received at the Office of the Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on December 7 (Thursday), the letter stated that his retirement took effect from December 6 (Wednesday).
The letter did not disclose the reason for the judge’s decision.
But it was learnt that the National Judicial Council did not act on his previous letter of notice of retirement dated September 25, 2017.
It was addressed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the National Judicial Council, Justice Walter Onnoghen.
The letter indicated that the NJC would receive the letter through the Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdu Kafarati.
Titled, ‘Letter of voluntary retirement’, the letter read, “I hereby voluntarily retire from the bench of the Federal High Court with effect from December 6, 2017.”
The footnote of the letter added, “This letter supersedes my previous notice of retirement from the Federal High Court of Nigeria dated 25/09/2017”.
The decision of the judge was a sudden one as he had only some days ago fixed Thursday for judgment in a terrorism case.
The letter also came at a time the National Judicial Council, which had been considering a petition sent against him, is having a two-day meeting which commenced on Wednesday.
Earlier on Thursday, lawyers, journalists and the defendants facing the terrorism charges scheduled for judgment, were turned back byJustice Ademola’s court’s officials.
One of the officials told all lawyers whose cases were scheduled to come up on Thursday to return to the court next week for a new date.
Justice Ademola was of the judges arrested by the Department of State Service last year October.
He was subsequently prosecuted alongside his wife, Olubowale, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria on gratification charges.
But the trio were were exonerated by the trial court after upholding their no-case submission earlier this year.
Source: The Punch