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The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting at Apo, has struck out six applications filed by Abuja-based lawyer, Victor Giwa, in his ongoing criminal trial over alleged forgery and impersonation.
Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie struck out the motions, M/7057/25, M/12210/25, M/14379/25, M/15452/25, M/16530/25 and M/16695/25 after the first defendant repeatedly failed to move them despite several adjournments granted by the court. One of the applications sought the recusal of the presiding judge.
During proceedings on Wednesday, Giwa informed the court that he had lodged petitions against the trial judge with the Chief Judge of the FCT, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), and the National Judicial Council (NJC).
He argued that the petitions ought to be resolved before any of his pending motions could be considered and urged the court to adjourn the matter indefinitely.
Giwa is standing trial alongside a co-defendant, Bukola, on charges relating to the alleged forgery of official documents and impersonation of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Awa Kalu.
The prosecution alleges that the acts were carried out to deceive the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) into withdrawing an earlier criminal charge against Giwa at the FCT High Court in Maitama.
At the resumed hearing, T. Y. Silas appeared for the Inspector-General of Police, while Ogbu Aboje represented the second defendant. Levi E. Nwonye appeared by watching brief for the nominal complainant. Counsel to the first defendant, Ibrahim Idris, SAN, was absent, leading Giwa to conduct his defence personally.
Silas told the court that the case had previously been adjourned to allow the first defendant engage counsel and to enable all pending applications filed by both parties to be taken. He said the prosecution was fully prepared to proceed with its motions.
Giwa objected to the hearing of any application, alleging that he could not receive a fair trial due to what he described as bias by the court.
He relied on Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution and provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), urging the court to disqualify itself from the matter.
He further alleged that a letter he addressed to the court on January 19, 2026, was rejected by the court registrar, adding that since he had written to the Chief Judge on January 14, he would no longer submit himself to further proceedings before the court.
Opposing the objection, Silas relied on Sections 98(2) and 306(c) of the ACJA, 2015, arguing that petitions written to judicial authorities do not automatically halt criminal proceedings.
He told the court that the prosecution had already opened its case on October 30, 2025, with the testimony of its first witness.
Silas described Giwa’s applications as a calculated attempt to stall the trial and cited authorities, including Okeke v. State and Tiput v. Dawamkat, urging the court to dismiss the objection and allow the trial to continue.
Counsel to the second defendant associated himself with Giwa’s arguments and urged the court to grant the application for recusal.
In his response, Giwa challenged the prosecution’s interpretation of Section 98(2) of the ACJA, arguing that the calling of a single witness did not amount to the proper commencement of the prosecution’s case.
He again urged the court to suspend proceedings pending the outcome of investigations into his petitions.
In a bench ruling, Justice Onwuegbuzie upheld the submissions of the prosecution, holding that petitions to the NJC or the Chief Judge do not, in themselves, operate as a stay of criminal proceedings.
The court noted that the conduct of the first defendant showed a consistent effort to frustrate and delay the trial and held that his refusal to move his own applications amounted to disobedience of court orders.
The court consequently struck out all six motions filed by the first defendant and adjourned the case to January 26, 2026.
The matter was initially fixed for January 28 but was brought forward after Giwa informed the court that he would be appearing before the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) on that date.
Court strikes out six motions by Abuja lawyer in alleged forgery, impersonation trial
