The Court of Appeal, in Lagos State, has reserved judgment, in the appeal filed by the Federal Government, seeking the extradition of the senator representing Ogun East District, Buruji Kashamu, to the United States of America.
The Federal Government claimed to have received a request by the US Government to deliver Kashamu up for prosecution for his alleged role in an illicit drug deal in the US.
But Kashamu had, in 2015, secured two separate judgments by Justices Okon Abang and Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court restraining the Federal Government from delivering him to the United States of America.
The Attorney-General of the Federation approached the Court of Appeal seeking to overturn the judgments of Justices Abang and Buba, to pave the way for Kashamu’ s extradition .
Counsel for the AGF, Emeka Ngige, told the appellate court, on Thursday, that Kashamu concealed material facts before Justices Abang and Buba, where he obtained restraining orders against the Federal Government. According to him, Kashamu’s suits, which were decided by Justices Abang and Buba, were based on mere hearsay, contending that the two lower court judges miscarried justice.
He claimed that Justices Abang and Buba failed to evaluate the documentary evidence placed before them before giving their verdicts.
Ngige urged the three-man Appeal Court panel, presided over by Justice Joseph Ikhegh , to overturn the two judgments and give force to Kashamu’s extradition .
But he was opposed by Kashamu’ s lawyer, Lateef Fagbemi, who insisted that the decisions by the high court judges were in order. Fagbemi urged the court to dismiss the Federal Government’s appeal.
After the parties had argued and adopted their written addresses, the court reserved judgment in the appeal till a date to be communicated to the parties soon.
The move by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to extradite Kashamu to the United States of America, in 2015, failed, on account of a May 27, 2015, judgment of Justice Okon Abang, which was subsequently reaffirmed by Justice Buba on June 23, 2015.
