Press Conference by The Forum of Non-Governmental Organisations in Nigeria (FONGON) in Abuja on corruption in the judiciary
When we say corruption in the judiciary, we are choosing our words carefully because we don’t believe that the Nigerian judiciary is corrupt, but that there is corruption in the Nigerian judiciary. We are aware that there are many men and women of integrity in the judiciary, hence we will not want to tar this important arm of government with a common brush. Be that as it may, unless something is done and done very quickly, the few bad apples in the basket are capable of spoiling the good ones. That is why we have decided to add
our voice to the raging controversy over the arrest of some Judges and Justices over alleged corruption.
We want to state unequivocally, that based on our interactions with Nigerians across the length and breath of this country, majority of Nigerians are fully in support of the Federal Government’s efforts to address the issue of corruption in the judiciary. This has strengthened our resolve to come out boldly in support of the efforts to make our judiciary corruption-free.
Another point to note is the fact that some judiciary icons have weighed in on the issue of corruption in the judiciary. Notable among them are retired Supreme Court Justice Samson Uwaifo and a former Judge of the International Court of Justice Bola Ajibola. Their interventions are very illuminating.
Justice Uwaifo said a corrupt judge is more harmful to the society than a man who runs amok with a dagger in a crowded street.
He said: ”If a judge is corrupt,
he is no longer a judge, he is a thief and, therefore, he should be treated as such, according to the law and sent to jail.
“The substantive issue is corruption. Is it true that these people are actually corrupt and that huge sums of money were found in their place? If that is so, the question of the procedure that was taken would be a secondary thing.”
We will come back to the issue of procedure later. But let’s also examine what Chief Bola Ajibola said, that fighting corruption is vital and it is going to come with many provocations and open show of ungratefulness by the same Nigerians that the Buhari Administration is working hard to save. But he urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to bow to pressure against the anti-corruption war.
THE ROLE OF THE NJC AND THE NBA
Since the arrest of the Judges/Justices, we believe that the National Judicial Council (NJC) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) have been doing everything possible to muddle the waters and to water down the efforts of the Federal Government to tackle corruption in the judiciary. Their strategy has been to focus on the procedure, in terms
of who arrested who and whether such arrests are constitutional, rather than the substantive issue, which is corruption. This is where the words of Justice Uwaifo, that the procedure should be secondary, are very important.
As the erudite Professor of Law, Itse Sagay, has said, the issue of corruption in the judiciary has become an epidemic and the NJC was not established, neither does it have the capacity, to deal with such an epidemic, which is capable of bringing the whole country down. Prof. Sagay even went further to state that the epidemic of corruption in the judiciary, if left unchecked, could undermine the basic tenets of democracy and trigger a civil war, as those who may have lost confidence in the judiciary resort to self help.
Our research shows that the NJC has been engaged only in a cosmetic fight against the bad eggs in the judiciary. Between 2000 and 2016, not one of the 73 judges sanctioned by the NJC for various acts of corruption was prosecuted! The NJC has also refused to release the records of its proceedings in recommending sanctions against those Judges. Not even the Freedom of Information Act has compelled the NJC to release the records. If this is no cover-up, what is it?
Only last week, the Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC), in a letter to the Chairman of the NJC, pointedly asked the NJC why it has decided not to investigate and sanction allegedly corrupt judges in 10 petitions, which we have reproduced below.
The NJC, it seems, has no answer to the question.
(1) The petition against Justice B.A Adejumo, President of the
National Industrial Court for granting illegal ex parte orders against two state governments. The petitions were submitted to the NJC by the governments of Edo and Oyo states.
(2) The petition written against the President of the Court of Appeal for the failure to hear and determine the appeal filed by the EFCC in 2008 at the Court of Appeal against the judgement of Justice Buba in the Odili case. The counsel handling the case on behalf of the EFCC is the current President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. A. B.
Mahmoud SAN. The petition was written by the CSNAC.
(3) The petition written against four judges namely Justice Uwani Abba-Aji of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ibrahim Auta, Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa and Mohammed Yunusa of Federal High Court and Chief Judge of the Federal High Court alleged to have collected bribes from Mr. Rickey Tarfa (SAN) currently undergoing trial for transfer of sums of money to the judges. The petition was submitted to the NJC
by the CSNAC.
(4) The petition written against Justice Marcel Awokulehin for sentencing convicted drug dealers to lesser terms contrary to the provisions of the NDLEA Act. The petition was submitted to the NJC by the CSNAC.
(5) The petition written against Justice Abdul Kafarati for gross misconduct and desecration of the bench. The petition was submitted to the NJC by the CSNAC.
(6) The petition written against Justice Adejumo for recommending unqualified candidates who were appointed as judges of the National Industrial Court. The petition was written by the CSNAC.
(7) The NJC gave the impression that there is only one petition pending against Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the federal high court. This is not correct as the NJC also received a petition alleging that the judge wrote two judgements in one case. The petition together with
the two judgements were submitted to the NJC by the Committee of Anambra State PDP House of Representatives Members-Elect.
(8) On not less than two occasions Justice Ademola has obtained injunctions to restrain the NJC from investigating allegations of corruption against him. What steps did the NJC take to set aside the black market injunctions?
(9) Justice I. A. Umezulike, Chief Judge of Enugu state has been retired on the recommendation of the NJC for launching a book where he collected N10 million from a litigant. Why was Justice Ibrahim Auta who collected over N40 million from his book launch not recommended for retirement by the NJC? A petition to this effect was submitted by CSNAC.
(10) The petition submitted to the NJC by the DSS on the 15 judges who are said to have engaged in money laundering and corruption was not considered. Did the same NJC not recommend the dismissal and prosecution of Justice Kabiru Auta who had collected N200 million bribe from a litigant. Why was the NJC silent on the millions of naira, dollars, pounds and other foreign currencies.
It has also been reported in the media that a Judge is under probe for allegedly collecting N30 million bribe from a Senator. The Judge reportedly stuffed some of the cash, in United States dollars, in his shoes and walked barefooted to his car!
As for the NBA, the Human Rights Activist and Lawer, Mr. Femi Falana, best summarises its role, when he said in an interview published on Saturday that the NBA leaders know all the corrupt judges and lawyers. Prof Sagay also spoke in similar vein, saying lawyers, especially the senior ones among them, corrupted the Judges and are largely responsible for the corruption in the system
The NBA’s opposition to the arrest of some Judges/Justices is not altogether altruistic but based on sheer self interest. Some members of this association are afraid that exposing the corrupt judges will in turn expose them, since they are the conduits for bribing the corrupt judges. It is common knowledge that the only ways that Judges/Justices can be corrupted are through lawyers and the staff of the Judges/Justices.
The NBA’s opposition is hinged on their stand that the search and arrest of the Judges/Justices by the DSS are unconstitutional and that there were no prior invitations extended to the Judges/Justices. The NBA is wrong in both cases.
The truth is that the DSS acted constitutionally.
By Section 2 (3) of the National Security Agencies Act 1986, Cap. 278 LFN 1990, the State Security Service is charged with responsibility for –
(a) the prevention and detection within Nigeria of any crime against the internal security of Nigeria;
(b) the protection and preservation of all non-military classified matters concerning the internal security of Nigeria; and
(c) such other responsibilities affecting internal security within Nigeria as the National Assembly or the President, as the case may be, may deem necessary.”
Pursuant to Section 2 (3) (c)), Presidential Proclamation; Instrument No. SSS1 of 23rd May 1999 (the Instrument) was issued to expand the mandate of the DSS to include prevention, detection and investigation of, inter alia, economic crimes of national security dimension and
threats to law and order. See paragraph 2 (1) (i) (d) and (g) of the Instrument.
In the discharge of their responsibilities as they relate to searches and arrests, staff of DSS are conferred with the powers of Superior Police Officers. Paragraph 3 (1) of the Instrument provides that: “For the purpose of facilitating the discharge of its functions under this Instrument, personnel of the State Security Service are hereby conferred with the powers of a Superior Police Officer in respect of searches and arrests.”
Concerning invitation, the NBA is being economical with the truth because efforts to invite Judges/Justices with petitions against them were blocked by the NJC. Responding to such a letter of invitation with regards to allegations of corruption against Justice Pindiga of the High Court of Justice in Gombe, the NJC, in a letter dated 7th Sept. 2016, wrote to the DSS, inter alia: ”Council further directed that while it is
appreciative of the wonderful working relationship between the judiciary and the other arms of government, in fidelity with the principle of Separation of Powers and the Rule of Law, it is not amenable to invitations being extended to Judicial officers by Departments and Agencies of Government, for any reason.”
May we also call the attention of the NBA to the following:
– Section 308 of the Constitution confers immunity from civil and criminal proceedings only on the President, Vice President, Governors and Deputy Governors. No other person in the executive, legislature or judiciary, enjoys similar cover.
– By section 148 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, “A search warrant may be issued and executed at any time on any day, including a Sunday and public holiday.”
– On how the search should be conducted, Section 149 ACJA provides that “(1) Where any building or other thing or place liable to search is closed, a person residing in or being in charge of the building, thing or place shall, on demand of the police officer or other person executing the search warrant, allow him free and unhindered access to it and afford all reasonable facilities for its search.
(2) Where access into the building, thing or place cannot be so obtained, the police officer or other person executing the search warrant may proceed in the manner prescribed by sections 9, 10, 12 and 13 of this Act.” Sections 9, 10, 12 and 13 relate to the USE OF FORCE (emphasis ours) in the search of a person arrested; inventory of items recovered in the search; entry of premises where a suspect to be arrested has entered into; and breaking open of any outer or inner
door or window of any house or place whether that of the suspect to be arrested or any other person or otherwise effect entry into such house or place. These provisions are similar to the provisions of sections 7 and 112 of the Criminal Procedure Law.
RESORT TO RED HERRING BY THE ARRESTED JUDGES/JUSTICES
We have also noted the attempt by some of the arrested Judges and Justices to resort to red herring by attributing their current travails to their refusal to heed the request for favour from certain quarters. While we cannot say whether or not these allegations can be substantiated, we are surprised that the Judges/Justices waited to be arrested before making their allegations, we want to urge Nigerians not to allow themselves to be distracted by what we see as red herring.
CONCLUSION
Gentlemen of the press, we have decided to take you through these details to prove that while indeed the battle to dislodge the corrupt Judges and Justices from the Judiciary enjoys the support of a majority of Nigerians., the NJC and the NBA have constituted themselves to a stumbling block, based on nothing but narrow-minded self interest. The NJC and the NBA must not be allowed to truncate the laudable efforts of the Buhari Administration to prevent the Judiciary from being turned to a Bazaar, where justice is traded for Naira and
Kobo, and in some instances, choice foreign currencies.
In view of this, The Forum of Non-Governmental Organisations in Nigeria has decided to take the bull by the horns.
1. We are hereby calling on the serving Judges/Justices among those who were arrested by the DSS to immediately step down since the conniving NJC is not willing to suspend them. Even though the arrested Judges/Justices have not been declared guilty by any court of law, they have been tainted in the court of public opinion and their positions are no longer tenable until they have been able to clear themselves of the allegations against them.
2. If the affected Judges/Justices fail to step down, we will mobilise Nigerians to besiege their courts until they have heeded the call to step down, which even their allies – the NBA – as well as the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, has endorsed.
3. We will also embark on a peaceful demonstration in support of the battle to rid the Judiciary of bad eggs. We want to say that this is not Buhari’s war, neither is it the war of any political party. It is the war of all Nigerians, and we call on all our citizens not to allow themselves to be misled by those who have constituted themselves to a stumbling block against this war.
4. We urged the Federal Government to continue to take the
lead in the prosecution of the battle against corruption in the
judiciary in particular, and the corruption in the polity in general.
For, in the words of American Clergyman and Social Reformer, Henry Ward Beecher, ”Take all the robes of all the good judges that have ever lived on the face of the earth, and they would not be large enough to cover the iniquity of one corrupt judge.”
5. In the same vein, we are worried by the seeming silence of the NLC, TUC and other mass-based Labour Unions in this collective struggle. This is definitely one of the few moments when silence is not golden. We are of the view that people oriented organisations should be front runners in this noble
cause. Judicial fraud is the height of heist against humanity. We hereby call on them to join the struggle if they cannot lead.
6. Finally, we call on the Federal Government to call to order the Governors of Rivers and Ekiti States, who have been using their immunity to obstruct the course of justice. We also demand that immediate disciplinary action be taken
against law enforcement agents who collude with the Governors to thwart justice.
I thank you all for listening
Wole Badmus
Chairman of the Forum
Monday, October 24, 2016.
