By INNOCENT ANABA

LAGOS — Justice Okechukwu Okeke of the Federal High Court, who retired this month, from the bench of the court,  yesterday, blamed his near dismissal by National Judicial Council, NJC, few days  to his retirement on a Justice of the Supreme Court.

Okeke, at a valedictory court session in his honour by the Federal High Court in Lagos, said three petitions were written against him at the twilight of his service, all authored by Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANs, on behalf of their clients.

Okeke said: “My travail emanated from the application filed by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria.

“On February 28, 2013, AMCON applied for ‘an order, granting leave to the applicant to apply for the issuance of a writ of execution (possession) by the registrar of this honourable court in respect of all those Federal Government property listed as No. 1 – No.27 in schedule VI of the official gazatte No. 94 volume 98 (Exhibit MSU), being part of the property forfeited to the applicant by the respondent vide the order of Justice Dan Abutu delivered in the matter on October 8, 2010.

“On March 1, 2013, the application was argued. I was satisfied that a case has been made out for the exercise of the court’s discretion in favour of the applicant.

“The said application was granted as prayed. On March 6, 2013, I received a call from the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court that a Supreme Court Justice was furious with me for granting leave to AMCON.

“I explained the position to him. In his characteristic policy of non-interference with his judges in the discharge of their duties, he advised me to hear any application for discharge of the order of March 1, 2013 whenever filed.

“He said on March 8, 2013, a lady claiming to be from the Supreme Court Justice came to his chambers, telling him to vacate the orders.

“I advised her that since they had filed the motion on notice for the setting aside of the order of March 1, 2013 that their counsel should meet the registrar of the court for a date for their motion; I, therefore, dismissed the application to set aside the order I made on March 1, 2013 and advised the interveners/applicants to take their case to the Court of Appeal.”

Describing how he felt, he said: “Hell was let loose on me. The intervener/applicant and their counsel wrote a petition against me which they back dated March 18, 2013 to the National Judicial Council.”