Wale Igbintade
Businessman and social media influencer, Afolabi Kazeem, popularly referred to as KC Luxury, standing trial over alleged 184.5 kilogrammes of cocaine trafficking and cash laundering, has requested Justice Musa Kakaki of the Federal High Court in Lagos to recuse himself from the case over alleged irregularities in court docket information and his deteriorating well being.
Kazeem, via his counsel, Chief Emefo Etudo, accused the court docket of failing to mirror its October 28, 2026 ruling on his shopper’s bail utility within the document of proceedings and alleged {that a} reply affidavit filed by the defence had gone lacking.
The utility for the decide’s recusal adopted the court docket’s refusal final Wednesday to grant Kazeem bail on medical grounds, with Justice Kakaki holding that the defendant had failed to ascertain particular circumstances or present ample proof to justify his launch.
At the resumed proceedings on Monday, Kazeem, who was absent from court docket, sought the decide’s withdrawal via Etudo, who appeared alongside Mrs Charity Etudo.
The senior lawyer informed the court docket that repeated efforts to acquire a duplicate of the October 28 ruling from the court docket registry had proved unsuccessful.
According to him, the defence was knowledgeable that the ruling had but to be signed by the decide, a growth he stated might prejudice his shopper’s proper to attraction inside the prescribed interval.
Etudo additionally expressed concern over the alleged disappearance of a reply affidavit filed by the defence, questioning the security of paperwork submitted to the court docket.
He stated, “The record of proceedings did not reflect that any ruling was made on October 28, 2026, by this honourable court. And we don’t feel so safe that our evidence, like the reply affidavit that got missing, is safe in the court.”
He additional criticised the Federal High Court’s insufficient recording services, arguing that the supply of verbatim recording gear would be certain that statements, submissions and choices made throughout proceedings had been precisely captured.
Etudo maintained that the alleged discrepancies within the court docket information had additional eroded his shopper’s confidence within the judicial course of.
The lawyer additionally questioned the prosecution’s proof, insisting that the paperwork tendered earlier than the court docket didn’t set up a connection between the primary, second and third defendants and the alleged offences.
He disclosed that he supposed to file a separate utility difficult the sufficiency of the prosecution’s proof however wished the court docket to first decide the recusal utility.
Opposing the request to take the appliance instantly, prosecution counsel, Ibrahim Abu, argued that the matter was scheduled for trial and that the defence had failed to clarify the absence of the primary defendant.
Abu stated the prosecution had six witnesses in court docket and was able to start the trial in compliance with the court docket’s earlier directive for accelerated listening to.
He additionally knowledgeable the court docket that he was served with the recusal utility throughout the stand-down and argued that it was not ripe for listening to.
The prosecution requested 5 days to answer the appliance as an alternative of the seven days ordinarily allowed beneath the foundations.
Abu additional described allegations of judicial bias as critical, insisting that the court docket had been truthful to all events.
He argued that the trial had not commenced and that the refusal of bail couldn’t, in itself, set up bias in opposition to the decide.
“Refusal of bail is the discretion of the court. That is not bias. There is an opportunity to appeal the decision, which has not been taken,” he stated.
The prosecution additionally opposed the suggestion to sever the fees, arguing that the primary rely concerned an allegation of conspiracy among the many defendants.
However, counsel to the second defendant, Augustine Audu, SAN, urged the court docket to listen to and decide the recusal utility earlier than continuing with the trial.
Audu, who confirmed that his shopper was additionally served with the appliance throughout the stand-down, stated the pending proceedings had stalled the trial and undermined the aim of the accelerated listening to order.
He urged the prosecution to amend the cost and separate the defendants to allow the second and third defendants to proceed with their trial independently of Kazeem.
According to him, his shopper mustn’t proceed to endure the implications of proceedings involving one other defendant, notably when he was keen to face trial and clear his title.
“We do not want the fate of the second and third defendants to be tied to the first defendant, because we are stuck,” he stated.
The senior advocate argued that the conspiracy rely didn’t forestall the prosecution from continuing in opposition to some defendants whereas others had been unavailable.
“The fate of the second and third defendants cannot be left hanging. The first count is conspiracy, and people can be tried while others are at large,” he submitted.
Audu additionally urged the court docket to contemplate bail for the second and third defendants, sustaining that they need to not stay in custody whereas the primary defendant’s utility stalled the proceedings.
He, nonetheless, stated he wouldn’t oppose the recusal utility, noting that it was a matter between the primary defendant and the prosecution.
Responding, Etudo stated he had reluctantly filed the appliance as a result of his shopper had misplaced confidence within the court docket.
“My client has lost confidence in this court, and that is why I have had to bring this application, although I was reluctant to do so,” he stated.
The defence counsel additionally raised recent considerations about Kazeem’s well being, disclosing that his situation had deteriorated.
To illustrate his considerations, Etudo recounted a earlier case on the Ikeja High Court wherein he had sought the discharge of a shopper affected by prostate most cancers to allow him to acquire medical therapy.
He stated the court docket declined the appliance and the defendant died earlier than the subsequent adjourned date.
Etudo stated the expertise knowledgeable his apprehension about Kazeem’s deteriorating well being and the attainable penalties of protecting him in custody.
He maintained that his shopper was in a sorry state and now not had confidence within the court docket.
Justice Kakaki adjourned the case till November 25, 2026, for the listening to of submissions on the appliance.
