A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting at Maitama, on Thursday, adjourned further hearing on the leadership crisis rocking the Staff Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited Staff Cooperative society till November 8.

Justice Charles Agbaza held that the court would on the next date, equally hear a motion that 15 staff members of the NNPCL who are defendants in the matter, filed to disqualify him from presiding over the case.

The defendants, through their team of lawyers led by Ibrahim Idris, SAN, is asking the judge to recuse himself, insisting they were not comfortable in his ability to resolve the leadership dispute, objectively. They alleged that some of the interim orders the judge made in the matter reflected his bias against them.

The defendants, on whose behalf the instant application was brought, declared that they have no total, complete faith and confidence in the ability of the presiding judge in this matter to continue to entertain this suit and serve justice without bias.

According to the defendants, the fulcrum of the substantive suit principally revolves around whether the tenure of the Management Committee led by Mr. Ogunbayo (which had been removed by the Congress of the Association as at then) was subsisting.
They added that the decision of the Court ordering the appearance of the said Mr. Ogunbayo in the circumstance, had prejudged the suit at the interlocutory stage.

Justice Agbaza, who acknowledged receipt of the motion, adjourned to hear all the pending applications in the matter.

Earlier in the proceeding on Thursday, counsel for the plaintiffs, George Ibrahim, SAN, indicated his readiness to withdraw a contempt charge his clients initiated against the Director in charge of Human Resources Department of the NNPCL, Mrs. Fatima Yakubu, over an allegation that she flouted the interim orders of the court with respect to the matter.