71. Whether the Applicant’s right to fair hearing was violated by the Respondent; The crux of the Applicant’s case is that the Committee that sat to deliberate on the petition against him was not properly constituted when it heard and arrived at its decision. He alleged that the investigating committee was originally constituted as a two (2) member tribunal namely; Hon Justice Kassim Zannah and Hon Justice Abdullahi Yusuf with Mrs Balogun A.M (Mrs) as the secretary. The Committee deliberated twice before concluding the matter. On the 23 rd October 2017 both members were present but on the 9th of January 2018, though Hon Justice Abdullahi Yusuf was absent the only member left, heard parties, took evidence and concluded the deliberation. Based on above he concluded that the hearing is a fundamental breach of the Rule of law, a violation of his right to a fair trial and therefore a nullity 72. The Respondent on the other hand denied the allegation and maintained that not only was the Applicant given an opportunity to be heard by inviting him to answer to the allegation against him, he indeed appeared before the committee with a counsel of his choice. Regarding the composition of the panel, they refuted the allegation of the Applicant as to numbers and filed annexure C to show that the Committee was made up of four (4) members the secretary inclusive. Namely Hon Justice Kassim Zannah, Hon Justice Abdullahi Yusuf, Mrs R. I. Inga Council member with Mrs Balogun A.M (Mrs) as the secretary Analysis of the Court. 73. The cardinal principles of fair hearing require that a person whose interests are to be affected by a decision (whether adjudicative or administrative) receive a fair and unbiased hearing before the decision is made. Even scripturally, God did not pass sentence on Adam before he was called upon to make his defence. Failure to comply with the requirements of procedural fairness risk having the decision declared invalid by a court or tribunal, not because the decision itself was wrong, but because the decision-making process was wrong in some way. This was amplified by the Court when it held that; “…the principle of fair hearing as encapsulated in Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights is based on the rule that an individual should not be penalised by decisions affecting his rights or legitimate expectations without being given prior notice of the case, a fair opportunity to 22