A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja on Wednesday set aside the arrest warrant previously issued against the factional National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Kabiru Turaki.
The presiding judge, Justice Peter Kekemeke, vacated the bench warrant after Turaki appeared in court and his lawyer, Chris Uche, made an oral application requesting that the order be withdrawn.
The court had earlier issued the warrant on March 26 after Turaki failed to attend his scheduled arraignment over a one-count charge filed by the Nigeria Police Force under the authority of the Inspector-General of Police.
At Wednesday’s proceedings, Uche apologised to the court for his absence at the previous hearing, explaining that he had travelled outside the country and only returned earlier in the day before heading straight to court.
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He also apologised on behalf of Turaki, noting that the defendant, who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, holds the court in high regard and did not deliberately fail to attend the earlier sitting.
“He holds the court in the highest regard and his absence on the last date was not intentional and deliberate,” Uche told the court.
To show good faith, the defence lawyer informed the court that he intended to withdraw a motion earlier filed by Turaki seeking a stay of execution of the arrest warrant.
He added that his client was ready to take his plea on the charge brought against him.
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The prosecution counsel, Usman Rabiu, said he had no objection to the requests made by the defence, noting that the main aim of the arrest warrant was to compel Turaki’s appearance in court.
“Since he is here, we are not opposed to his being arraigned today,” Rabiu said.
In his ruling, Justice Kekemeke noted that Turaki had appeared in court voluntarily before the warrant could be enforced.
Although the judge observed that the explanation for his earlier absence was not entirely satisfactory, he said the court would exercise its discretion in the defendant’s favour.
The court, therefore, vacated the arrest warrant.
However, the judge declined to proceed with the arraignment, explaining that the matter had originally been scheduled for the hearing of the defence motion seeking a stay of execution of the warrant.
Following the defence counsel’s application to withdraw the motion—and with no objection from the prosecution—the court struck out the application.
Justice Kekemeke subsequently adjourned the case until April 22 for Turaki’s arraignment. The charge, marked CR/647/2026, was filed by the police, accusing Turaki of providing false information to the authorities. The specific charge alleges that Turaki “gave false information to the Inspector-General of Police via a petition dated October 5, 2022,” with the intent to use lawful power to the injury or annoyance of another party.
The court had earlier ordered security agencies to arrest and present him before the court after he failed to appear at the previous sitting.
With his appearance in court and the withdrawal of his application challenging the warrant, the judge held that the purpose of the arrest order had been fulfilled.
