CJN says Judiciary is under attack

 

 

The Chief Justice of Ni­geria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, has described the recent in­vasion of the official resi­dences of some senior court Judges in the Country and their subsequent arrest as an affront on the independence of the nation’s judiciary.

 

The Department of State Service (DSS) had on Oc­tober 7 and 8, swooped on seven judicial officers – com­prising two Justices of the Supreme Court and Judges of the Appeal and High Courts – in several States across the Country over alleged corrup­tion and professional mis­conduct.

 

In a statement issued yes­terday in Abuja by his Se­nior Special Assistant, Ms. Hadiza Sa’eed, the CJN con­demned this onslaught and decried the antagonism from members of the public that has trailed the plight of the judicial officers.

Justice Mohammed, who is also the Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC), flayed the call by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for the suspension of the embattled Judges from the Bench.

He appealed to all Nigeri­ans to continue to have faith and confidence on the Judi­ciary, adding that the face-off concerning the arrest of the Judges is only between the NJC and the DSS.

The Justice, who is on the verge of retirement, contra­dicted earlier news stories claiming that the NJC failed to act on the allegations against the affected Judges following formal reports for­warded to it by the DSS.

Mohammed insisted that the DSS at no time made any complaints to the NJC, which is empowered to sanction the judges. Even at that, the NJC had already sat on the cases of some of the judges, with varying degrees of sanctions recommended against them as provided by law.

While pledging the judi­ciary’s support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s war against corruption, the CJN said no indicted judicial of­ficer would be shielded from the law.

He further declared that the judiciary is not on trial in this matter even as he point­ed out that the rule of law must be followed in meting out sanctions against erring officials.

The statement reads in part: “The Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria wishes to state in clear terms that the ‘sting’ operations carried out by the DSS on 07 and 08 October, 2016 was certainly an assault on the independence of the Nigerian Judiciary.

“Nonetheless, the Ju­diciary fully supports the anti-corruption drive of the President of the Federal Re­public of Nigeria, Presi­dent Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.

“The Nigerian Judiciary has never and will never shield any Judicial Officer who is found to be guilty of corruption, however, the Hon. CJN believes that due process and the rule of law must be followed.

“The Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria is in­deed deeply concerned by the rising antagonism over the recent arrest of our judicial officers and other is­sues pertaining thereto.

“Furthermore, it must be reiterated that the current misunderstanding is only between the National Judi­cial Council (NJC), which was established by the Con­stitution and the Directorate of the State Security (DSS), in the Presidency.

“Hence, we must em­phasize that the Judiciary continues to maintain cor­dial relations with the other arms of government, that is, the Executive and the Na­tional Assembly.

“The Hon. CJN reit­erates that the Nigerian Judiciary, as an Arm of the Government of the Fed­eral Republic of Nigeria, is not a party in this matter, nor is the Nigerian Judiciary on trial.

“On the call by President of the Nigerian Bar, A. B. Mahmoud (SAN), to sus­pend judicial officers whose residences were invaded and who were subsequently ar­rested and detained by the DSS, we believe that the call was unnecessary and hasty as the said Judicial Officers are still being investigated by the DSS.

“Furthermore, the DSS is yet to forward any com­plaint or any official com­munication regarding the seven judicial officers to the National Judicial Council.

“Indeed, some of the af­fected judicial officers have already been investigated by the NJC, which found some culpable and recommended their removal from office by dismissal or retirement to the president and respective governors as provided under the Constitution.

“While some are still be­ing investigated by the NJC, in respect of others, no com­plaint against them has been received by the NJC whose powers to suspend must be exercised in accor­dance with the provisions of the Constitution establish­ing it.”