Recently, Justice Okoro Inyang JSC told the world in a letter addressed to the CJN, that his travails in the hands of the Department of State Services (DSS) following a sting operation conducted in his apartment, was the price for successfully rebuffing the attempt by Transporation Minister, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi and Umana Umana to influence the outcomes of the Abia, Akwa Ibom and Rivers elections petitions.
Also, another Supreme Court justice fingered Amaechi and Chief Ogbonaya Onu in another attempt to derail the train of justice at the Ekiti Election Petitions Tribunal.
The timing, style and pattern of these allegations are not only reminiscent of a victorian age institutional breakdown but also bears visible images of a careless chorography of a poorly-rehearsed dance drama.
Rule 1, Article 1 of the Code of Conduct for judicial officers provides very clearly that ‘a Judicial Officer should respect and comply with the laws of the land and should conduct himself at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the Judiciary’.
Section 1 of the first schedule to the Oaths Acts Cap O1 LFN, 2004 provides for the judicial oath administered on judicial officers before assuming office. In subscription to the judicial oath, every judicial officer promises to ‘be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Federal Republic of Nigeria at all times, to place service to the nation above selfish interest realising that a public office is a public trust, to eschew corruption in all its facets in the performance of his judicial duties’.
The extent to which the allegations of Justice Okoro, JSC and his learned brother, Justice Nguta complies with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the code of conduct for judicial officers and their judicial oath is doubtful and questions their judicial credentials.
Apart from allowing considerable time to lapse before exposing the alleged attempt by those mentioned in their responses to bribe them, the fact that the allegations were made public at a time when both judges are labouring under the weight of official corruption, (the DSS having discovered huge sums of foreign currencies in their living rooms), places a cap on their believability.
While Justice Okoro Inyang claimed to have verbally reported to the CJN the attempt by both Amaechi and Umana to influence him on the 1st of February 2016, Justice Nguta waited for almost 10 months after the Supreme Court delivered its judgement on the Ekiti governorship petition to bring home his allegations.
Section 23 (1) and (3) of the ICPC Act places a demand on a public officer to whom gratification has been offered to formally report such incidence to an officer of the commission or a police officer. The omission to do so attracts a fine of N100,000 or an imprisonment of two years or both.
In the interpretative section of the ICPC Act, a public officer is defined as “ a person employed or engaged in any capacity in the public service of the Federation, State or Local Government, public corporations or private company wholly or jointly floated by any government or its agency including the subsidiary of any such company whether located within or outside Nigeria and includes judicial officers serving in Magistrate, Area or Customary courts or Tribunals’.
The failure of Justice Inyang Okoro and his learned brother Justice Nguta as public officers, to formally report Amaechi and Umana amounts to a breach of duty punishable by sections 23 (3) of the ICPC Act. That both learned jurists chose to ignore such an important legal obligation is not only a betrayal of their oath of office but also an attempt to subvert the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Not only do their conduct dwarf public confidence in their ability to sing the songs of justice with a clear voices, it reveals that as keepers of the sacred sanctuary of justice, they have been polluted with a political romance too inordinate to prevent the spirits of justice from going on vacation. Their responses and the attempt to shift blame is a confirmation that they have been defiled by the touch of bad politics.
The attempt by these judges on whom assorted foreign currencies have been found to pass the bulk has heightened the perception that the judiciary is in great despair. It has fuelled the impression in many quarters that the inner chambers of justice to which no corruption should be admitted is heavy with the putrefying stench of judicial insincerity of a kind that demands the closure of our nostrils. It reveals a breakdown of judicial trust to which the free people of Nigeria have through powers reserved in the constitution, bequeathed on these supposed officers of law. The pipelines of justice into which pure crudes of sincerity should flow has played host to strange pollutants that has contaminated its canals and have made them unfit for societal consumption.
While these justices are at liberty to make solo renditions to their audience at hoarse and unattractive pitches, it is important to remind them that those who have the progress of Nigeria at heart are not ready to listen to judicial tunes that are gleaned of melody. They should be reminded that Nigerians expect the president to take the symphonies of anti-corruption (especially in the judiciary) to higher octaves.
*Charles Aholu, a lawyer, is the President-General of Save Rivers Movement (SRM).
