3-IN-1 STORY: A Corrupt Judge Is More Harmful To The Society Than An Armed Man — Justice Muhammadu Uwais

Photo: supremecourt.gov.ng

We must not masquerade under due process to permit and perpetuate the despoliation of our collective patrimony.

Media report continues:

Let us feed fat meat to the war on corruption haply a sane judiciary will pose great fear to thieving political operators.

“A corrupt judge is more harmful to the society than a man who runs amok with a dagger in a crowded street. The latter can be restrained physically. But a corrupt judge deliberately destroys the moral foundation of society and causes incalculable distress to individuals through abusing his office while still being referred to as honorable.”

      — Justice Muhammadu Uwais

Femi Falana (SAN), Blasts The NBA For Shielding Corrupt Judges.

Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), on Sunday, criticized the Nigerian Bar Association for shielding corrupt judges despite having information about their activities.

He described the failure of NBA to deal with corrupt officials in the judiciary as an embarrassment to the “incorruptible members of the bar,” adding that it was responsible for the current state of the country’s judiciary.

He said this while reacting to the raid on the homes of some judges and the arrest of four of them by the Department of State Services between Friday and Saturday. The operatives of the DSS had raided the official quarters of judges at Abuja, Gombe, Kano and Port Harcourt and ended up arresting at least four judicial officers.

The arrested judicial officers comprised two Justices of the Supreme Court – Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and John Okoro – as well as Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court and another judge of the Gombe State High Court, Justice Mu’azu Pindiga.

In a statement issued at the end of the raid, the DSS alleged that the suspects had engaged in judicial misconduct and corrupt practices, adding that a huge amount of money was recovered from three of the judges.

In response to the raid, the NBA had declared a state of emergency and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the judges.

Falana, however, criticized the NBA, saying, “In particular, the Nigerian Bar Association which has information on all corrupt judges and lawyers in the country has continued to shield them to the embarrassment of incorruptible members of the bar and the bench.

“The few lawyers who have plucked up the courage to expose corrupt judges and lawyers have been stigmatized and treated like lepers by their colleagues.

“It is on record that when both the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Offences Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission sent invitation letters to judges suspected of corruption they had rushed to the Federal High Court to obtain interlocutory injunctions to prevent their arrest, investigation, and prosecution.”

He said members of the legal profession had themselves to blame for the harassment of judges by security forces as they had failed to take advantage of the relevant statutory disciplinary bodies to purge the bar and the bench of corrupt elements.

“It is on account of negligence on the part of the legal profession that the SSS which screens candidates before they are recommended by the National Judicial Council for appointment as judges has now engaged in the arrest of judges for alleged corruption and abuse of office,” he said.

Falana, however, said because the detained judges “are presumed innocent until the contrary is proved by the State, they should be admitted to bail in self-recognizance.”

He urged the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, to ensure that the judges were immediately arraigned without delay.

He lamented the state of the legal profession, saying, “It is a matter of grave concern that the legal profession has allowed the denigration of the hallowed temple of justice because of the misconduct of a few corrupt judges.

“For several years, judges who committed grave criminal offences were not prosecuted but merely retired by the authorities on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council.

“Although the National Judicial Council recently recommended the dismissal and prosecution of a judge for extorting the sum of ₦197m from a litigant the authorities had paid lip service to the menace of judicial corruption in the country.”

DSS To Arrest More Judges For Graft, Trial Begins Soon

• JUSUN demands unconditional release • NBA team meets with CJN • Corruption, not judiciary under attack, says presidency

More judges are to be arrested across the country by the Department of State Services (DSS) in the ongoing alleged move to tackle corruption in the judiciary.

As the government yesterday defended the arrest of some judges at the weekend, it disclosed that it would arraign the affected judicial officers in court this week.

Besides, in a statement by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu last night, the Presidency insisted that President Mohammadu Buhari still reserves his highest respect for the institution of the judiciary as the third arm of government, and will not do anything to undermine its independence.

Meanwhile, crisis is brewing between workers in the judiciary and the government over the arrest of the judges. The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has summoned its National Executive Council (NEC) to an emergency meeting to decide on its next line of action on the matter.

Speaking with some journalists in his country home at Ugep, Cross River State at the weekend, the Special Assistant to the President on Prosecution, Mr. Okoi Obono Obla said the arrest was constitutional and that the DSS acted within the ambit of the law. He described the action as an unprecedented achievement of government in the anti-corruption fight. According to him, more of such actions will take place to ensure that corruption is checked in the country.

Obla stated: “The problem with us is that when the big man is arrested it becomes a problem or an issue because he can use money to stall many things. The Nigerian big man wants us to have two standards of justice; one for the big man and another for the poor man, and we say no to that. The big man should not do anything and get away with it in this country. The poor people are being arrested every day and nobody talks about them.

“Everybody should be subjected before the law. If the president does not have immunity, he can be arrested. The Senate president was arraigned and put on trial, so what is wrong with arresting Supreme Court justices?

“They will be arraigned before the court. The DSS carried out their operations constitutionally with a bench warrant and are free to do their work at any time of the day.

The Nigerian big men must change their mentality and subject themselves before the law.

“It is unprecedented in Africa for senior judges to be arrested for corruption and you say we are not fighting corruption? Judges are partly responsible, the corrupt lawyers are partly responsible.”

It was learnt yesterday that one or two Supreme Court justices and six other judges across the country may soon be taken to interrogation centres to answer questions on their financial integrity.

These are apart from the two Supreme Court justices still in detention and five other judges already facing interrogators at the Yellow House, the headquarters of the security services in Abuja.

Justice Adeniyi Ademola was among the judges who were reportedly harassed by the DSS last Saturday, and he is currently being held at the DSS headquarters in Abuja.

Other judges reported to have been held by the DSS include Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, also of the Federal High Court, and Justice Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme Court.

Also, banks which have come under the investigation radar of the secret police will soon feel the heat.

The JUSUN described the action of the government as uncivilized, calling for unconditional release of the judges.

The Guardian learnt that the union will unveil its next line of action after the meeting billed to hold tomorrow if its demand is not met.

National President of JUSUN, Marwan Adamu, in a statement by the National Public Relations Officer, Koin Selepreye, said though the union was in support of the anti-corruption war of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the rule of law must be respected.

The judiciary workers lamented what they described as the Gestapo style of the DSS on the matter, pointing out that the secret police should have forwarded the names of the alleged corrupt officers to the National Judicial Council (NJC) which is the statutory body that punishes or dismisses any erring judicial officer.

But 24 hours after the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) demanded the immediate release of the judges, it appeared the government would not budge.

The NBA, through its President Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) had set up a crisis management team comprising the association’s past presidents and general secretaries to investigate the situation.

As at yesterday, a member of the committee, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) said they would meet with the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mohammed Mahmud today.