Dare Babalola
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) sitting in Maitama has set aside the bench warrant earlier issued for the arrest of the factional National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kabiru Turaki.
The presiding judge, Justice Peter Kekemeke, vacated the warrant on Wednesday after Turaki appeared in court and his counsel, Chris Uche, made an oral application seeking its withdrawal.
When the matter was called, Uche apologised for his absence at the previous hearing, explaining that he had been out of the country and returned earlier on Wednesday before proceeding directly to court.
He also tendered an apology on behalf of his client, stressing that Turaki, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, holds the court in high regard and did not deliberately disregard its authority.
Uche further informed the court that Turaki’s absence was not intentional and, to demonstrate good faith, applied to withdraw a motion seeking a stay of execution of the arrest warrant.
He added that his client was prepared to take his plea on the pending charge.
Counsel to the prosecution, Usman Rabiu, did not oppose the application. He noted that the purpose of the arrest warrant—to compel the defendant’s appearance—had been achieved, adding that the prosecution had no objection to Turaki being arraigned.
In his ruling, Justice Kekemeke observed that the defendant voluntarily appeared in court before the warrant could be enforced.
While noting that the explanation for his earlier absence was not entirely clear, the judge accepted the apology and exercised discretion to set aside the arrest order.
The court, however, declined to proceed with Turaki’s arraignment, noting that the case was originally scheduled for the hearing of a motion.
The judge subsequently struck out the motion after it was formally withdrawn without objection from the prosecution.
The matter was adjourned until April 22 for Turaki’s arraignment on a one-count charge filed by the Inspector-General of Police, marked CR/647/2026.
The court had initially issued the arrest warrant on March 26 after Turaki failed to appear for arraignment over allegations that he provided false information to the police in a petition dated October 5, 2022, an offence said to be punishable under Section 140 of the Penal Code.
