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Tag: Judiciary

  • The nigerian judiciary in the eye of the storm

    And I say to such lawyers claiming to defend human rights, where were our rights when their clients were sucking our national patrimony dry?

    NO, No, No, forget it. This has nothing to do with last week’s politico-judicial abracadabra at the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja. But those who surreptitiously inspired that theatre of absurd in which Nigerians were cast as simpletons, should please not add to our anguish, claiming they want to appeal it. Enough of that tomfoolery by the  office of the Attorney-General, PACAC  and  the EFCC, an anti-corruption agency the government is increasingly presenting as toothless to the entire word by its several, curious rapprochement.  Enough of all these political paddy paddy  and welcome then to the next President of Nigeria,  Olubukola Saraki, who has shown again, that he is always one ahead of his ‘traducers’. Okay, you don’t believe the CCT saga has nothing to do with this article and therefore need a proof? I assure my readers that the title, chosen way back Monday of the past week, was the result  of  these two reports in The Nation of  that very day, Monday, 11 June, 2017: Supreme Court outlaws stay of proceedings in criminal trial, and the other,  AGF, EFCC  get court’s order to prosecute Ifeanyi Ubah, Capital Oil.

    Unfortunately, long before that, Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen and his National Judicial Council, NJC, – yes, he owns it, doesn’t he,  given the structure of the NJC? –  has opened the hornet’s nest when at the body’s 82nd meeting on June 1, it recalled judges who had been suspended consequent upon a sting operation by the DSS during which it was discovered that homes of some of the judges were more financially buoyant than banking halls, swimming with cash, in diverse currencies, stocked up in bundles, with the judges looking like mere bank cashiers. On this subject, I would recommend no more than a good reading of Kunle Abimbola’s: ’Vandals at the court gate”, The Nation, 13 June, 2017 from which I take the following sampler: “But the courts themselves are no fiat from space. They are a creation of society: a set of legal Leviathans created by law to adjudicate disputes and punish crime. Remove that societal moral cover, and all the courts, with their arcane procedures and scholarship, become hollow jokes. If that would affect judges and lawyers alone, it would be fair comeuppance for NJC’s rashness. As the Yoruba would say, you don’t counsel a wilful child against growing crooked fore-teeth. The paralysing ugliness would impress him soon enough! Rather, it is the sad case of a wayward child, whose rascality soon entraps his community in avoidable ruin.”

    Unfortunately, all that philosophical musing was beyond the cognition of the NJC. Pity.

    Other than the above, one would have, with considerable justification, started to celebrate the Onnoghen era, which in some critical instances has already started  reminding one  of the golden era of the Nigerian judiciary; the days of Taslim Elias, Chukwudifu Oputa, Kayode Esho and  the other greats this country has witnessed. A look then at the crucial instances.

    SUPREME COURT OUTLAWS STAY OF PROCEEDINGS IN CRIMINAL TRIAL

    Femi Falana SAN, if he is not pouring champagne already, must be so happy a horse could ride in his stomach.  Or what have some rogue lawyers not done to make a complete mess of the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act (ACJA)?  So  nauseating  was their roguery and  near complete bastardisation of the Act that  Biodun Jeyifo, a Professor,  and highly regarded columnist with The Nation on Sunday, took weeks to interrogate ACJA in form of  a dialogue with Femi Falana SAN.  Against the opponents of the act who claim that the provisions in Sections 306 of ACJA and 40 of the EFCC Act prohibiting courts from staying proceedings in criminal trials was a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed right to appeal, the Supreme Court held, unequivocally, that granting a stay was unlawful, violating, not only the provisions of Section 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015,but Section 40 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004 as well.  Justice Clara Ogunbiyi actually held that staying proceedings was violently in conflict with those provisions. The court further added that “the provisions of both laws were in conformity with the constitutional provision in Section 36(4), which provides that any person charged with a criminal offence “shall be entitled to fair hearing in public within a reasonable time.” That was the ruling of the apex court on the application for stay of proceedings brought by ex-spokesman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh.

    EFCC must feel quite relieved with this noose off its neck as it has been one of the greatest tools in the hands of  the  lawyers who, in sheer moral depravity, have chosen to be arrayed against the anti corruption war which trumps every other election promise by President Buhari to the people of Nigeria. These lawyers, mostly of the silk category, some of who run to the television networks at prime time, spewing grammatical inanities on issues on which they smell the possibility of briefs, have done the greatest disservice to our country, representing, as they do, those who are hauled to courts for the heaviest heists ever. And I say to such lawyers claiming to defend human rights, where were our rights when their clients were sucking our national patrimony dry?

    Their comeuppance will be inescapable.

    AGF, EFCC GET COURT’S NOD TO PROSECUTE UBAH, CAPITAL OIL.

    If anything would show, beyond a shadow of doubt, the utter depravity of the Goodluck Jonathan era, it must be this or the Ibori case as both are archetypical of the depth to which the judiciary of that era sank. It was an era in which those who held Jonathan captive throughout his forgettable years in power actually got away with murder. In the particular case of Ifeanyi Ubah, the man who kick started Jonathan’s campaign a whole one year ahead of INEC permission, using Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) as his special purpose vehicle and who would later, deservedly, profusely weep at the Villa on Jonathan’s defeat, curious would be an inadequate word to describe what happened. As in the Odili case, Ubah and his firm, Capital Oil, via separate letters from the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and a report by the ad-hoc Committee of the House of Representatives, were protected from being investigated or prosecuted over their alleged complicity in the massive petroleum subsidy scam Nigerians saw under a listless President Goodluck Jonathan. Can any word sufficiently describe this legal debauchery to which a permanently corrupt Nigerian National Assembly lent its awesome weight? It was this shame of a judicial decision that the court, in a unanimous judgment by a three-man panel, smashed to smithereens while giving its decision in the appeal initiated by the Chairman of the EFCC and AGF against the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja delivered on July 25, 2013 in a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Ubah and his firm. It was prosecuted by Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), with Ajibola Oluyede and Babs Akinwumi representing Ubah and Capital Oil. According to The Nation’s report, court documents revealed that trouble started for Ubah and his firm when the Presidential Committee on the Verification and Reconciliation of subsidy payments to petroleum marketers queried the payment of about N43.291billion subsidy payment to them on the ground that the process leading to the payment was suspicious. The case was referred to the Special Fraud Unit for investigation and it issued two interim reports dated November 2, 2012 and November 3, 2012, claiming that the transactions were suspicious. Then the Jonathan machine went to work and the following happened: the police, on February 28, 2013 issued a third report exonerating Ubah and his firm, the House of Representatives gave a similar verdict in its report of April 18, 2012 and the ever available AGF, in a legal advice to the EFCC Chairman and the IGP, dated October 2014, exonerated Ubah and his company from criminal liability.

    Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen deserves plaudits – acclamation, acclaim and éclat – for leading the Nigerian judiciary that washed the county clean of that judicial rapacity and we look forward to more from where this came.

  • PACAC Secretary: don’t blame NJC alone for corruption in judiciary

    PACAC Secretary: don’t blame NJC alone for corruption in judiciary

    •Banks, Customs should declare assets, says Owasanoye

    Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) Executive Secretary Prof BolajiOwasanoye yesterday said the executive must complement the judiciary’s efforts to rid its ranks of corrupt elements.

    He disagreed with PACAC Chairman Prof Itse Sagay (SAN), who earlier said the judiciary was not on board in the anti-corruption fight.

    Sagay had faulted the National Judicial Council (NJC) for recalling some judges accused of corruption, including Justice AdeniyiAdemola, whose case is on appeal.

    Owasananoye believed the NJC’s statement blaming the Ministry of Justice for not being swift in prosecuting the judges had merit.

    Justifying its decision, the NJC said the Ministry of Justice officials failed to turn up to compile and transmit records of appeal in Ademola’s case until the 45 days allowed for the exercise expired on May 22.

    It claimed the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation only filed additional grounds of appeal last Tuesday, three days after the Council directed the judicial officers to resume duties.

    Owasanoye, in a telephone interview with our correspondent yesterday, said the Ministry of Justice could have done better in the judges’ prosecution.

    He said the onus was on Attorney-General of the Federation AbubakarMalami (SAN) to respond to NJC’s claims.

    Owasanoye said: “Prof Sagay’s comments needs to be taken in context of whatever conversation he was having with the journalists. My view is that it is not only the judiciary that is responsible for the present state of affairs with regards to our prosecutions.

    “The judiciary has taken certain steps. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Justice has not matched them. The statement issued by the judiciary vindicates my position.

    “Clearly, the judiciary has taken certain steps. It was up to the Federal Ministry of Justice to follow through, but those steps had not been taken, and so we have the situation that we have right now.

    “The judiciary has responded to say that the ball is in the court of the executive, especially the Ministry of Justice, to do what it said it was going to do.

    “I totally and absolutely agree with the position of the judiciary. The judiciary has not said they have been completely above board, but they’re saying they’ve made some effort. Can those efforts be complemented? I agree that those efforts need to be complemented.”

    Owasanoye, however, urged judges to show more firmness in the adjudication of corruption cases by not tolerating delays.

    “Once we see that, the stretch – the interminable delays to prosecution should significantly reduce. We want to judges who will no longer tolerate nonsense, such as requests for adjournments for unimaginable reasons.

    “Given the recent statement issued by the judiciary, the ball is in the court of the Ministry of Justice to respond.”

    Owasanoye said there was an existing law which requires banks and customs officials to declare their assets annually.

  • Sagay to Judiciary: You’re hostile towards anti-graft war 

    Sagay to Judiciary: You’re hostile towards anti-graft war 

    … PACAC chair slams NJC for condoning corrupt judges

     

     

    Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) chairman Prof Itse Sagay (SAN) Wednesday accused the judiciary of undermining the war against corruption.

    He said the judiciary has shown hostility towards efforts to rid the country of graft.

    “The judiciary is not on board in the anti-corruption fight,” Sagay said.

    It was his closing remarks at a conference on “Promoting International Cooperation in Combating Illicit Financial Flows and Enhancing Asset Recovery to Foster Sustainable Development” in Abuja.

    The three-day conference was organised by PACAC in collaboration with the ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs.

    Eminent professor of International law and jurisprudence, Akin Oyebode, agreed with Sagay’s assessment.

    He said the judiciary has lost its glory and needs “redemption” from its “transgressions”.

    Sagay faulted the National Judicial Council (NJC) for recalling judges who were suspended over corruption allegations.

    He said one of the recalled judges, whose name he did not reveal, was notorious for making financial demands from lawyers and accepting gratifications.

    To him, such a judge should not be allowed to remain on the Bench.

    The PACAC chairman also criticised the recall of Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

    The judge was arraigned on 18 counts of corruption charges, but an FCT High Court upheld his no-case submission and struck out the case.

    The prosecution appealed the verdict, while there is a pending charge against Justice Ademola at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

    Sagay said: “NJC’s decision to recall them, especially Ademola, whose case is a life case, and others who have not been charged but are going to be charged, for me, is a sign of hostility to the fight against corruption.

    “We cannot afford the judicial hierarchy to engage in espirit de corps (a shared feeling of loyalty) with members of their group that have fallen in the corruption struggle.

    “They must join the executive whose mantra is total or near elimination of corruption for the sake of the survival of this country. Judges have a duty to join in this determination.

    “So, that sort of decision that was taken gives the impression that they are hostile to the struggle. That’s one reason I said they’re not on board,” he told newsmen on the sidelines of the conference.

    According to Sagay, corruption is so rife in the judiciary that some judges brazenly demand money from lawyers, and despite being aware of such judges, NJC tolerates them.

    “There so many judges now who demand money from lawyers or accept money from them. I know a judge who will come to you today and say: ‘My mother died, please send money to me’. Lawyers will send N200, 000 to him. The next day, he’d say: ‘My daughter is getting married’. Another day: ‘My uncle has been made a chief, we’re contributing.’

    “Nobody in the judicial hierarchy will deny that these judges exist. And one of them is among those going back now. He has collected money from hundreds of lawyers. And everybody knows this.

    “Should that person be on the Bench? He has desecrated the bench; he has brought it down; he’s a common beggar, who is ready to compromise his position if you give him money on the excuse of burying his father.

    “That man has millions of naira and dollars in his account already accumulated through this means. People like that are being asked to go back. That’s why I said the judiciary, for now, is not with us in the struggle against corruption, and they need to be with us if that struggle is not to crash and if this country is not to crash with it,” Sagay said.

    He said PACAC would continue to engage with the judiciary to make judges realise that the country’s future is bleak if they do not join the battle.

    “We interact with judges a lot, from the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to the magistrates. We’ve visited most of them, and we’ll keep on visiting and talking and persuading them to realise that it is in their own interest to be as fervent and determined and passionate about elimiminating the sourge of corruption, and that any of their brethren who is suspected to be guilty of corruption is a destroyer of all that the judiciary stands for. He’s an enemy of the judiciary.

    “The judiciary, in my view, is the highest of the three arms of government. When a judge descends from that level and comes into the mud to join in looting and accepting money from lawyers who have no name to protect, the judicial hierarchy, the clean ones should come down hard on such judges, harder than the poor man who is sentenced everyday for stealing a goat.

    “The judge who is guilty of corruption is almost guilty of a crime against humanity, because what he is doing is to undermine the whole integrity of the state.

    “It means that when we have a major issue that can affect the future of the country, we can’t go to him, because he’s dishonest, he lacks integrity and is fraudulent and will not decide the case according to the justice of it.

    “So it’s a very dangerous thing that is happening now and the judges must embrace the fight against corruption otherwise this country has no future,” Sagay said.

    The PACAC chairman said there was no pressure from the executive on the judiciary to convict those accused of corruption at all cost.

    However, he urged judges not to consider only the legal aspects of a case, but the justice side as well.

    Sagay said: “They should apply the law and justice. Law without justice is useless.

    “When a case comes before a judge, before he even hears the legal arguments, he looks at the facts and claims. He should be able to say in his mind: ‘Justice seems to be on this side’. There are some cases in which the legal arguments favour one side. But that side is the unjust side.

    “The English legal system and common law has educated us and given us a culture of being able to, as a judge, look at the case, use our own creativity to ensure justice is not lost because of legal arguments, and to use creative argument to ensure that justice prevails. That’s the way we were trained, but that is not happening.”

    For Prof Oyebode, the judiciary should redeem itself if it is to remain the common man’s last hope.

    “I think the judiciary now seeks redemption because of its transgressions. We just have to wish them well and hope that a greater day lies ahead for judges in contemporary times,” he said.

    According to him, appointment of “misfits” as judges contributed to the fall in standards.

    Oyebode said: “Prof Sagay, many years ago, wrote a book saluting the Supreme Court in terms of the judgment they handed down and the effervescence of the judiciary under the leadership of people like the late Kayode Eso, the late Chukwudifu Oputa and other distinguished jurists. They gave a testament to posterity.

    “But, since then a lot of water has passed under the bridge. There have been some misfits appointed to the judiciary – those who have abused or compromised their high judicial office.

    “The judiciary is the custodian of due process and rule of law, and if gold rusts, what should iron do? I am part of those who believe that a people get the judiciary that they deserve.

    “If Nigerians believe that the judiciary has a role to play in the scheme of things, then they must fight and defend the appointees, hoping that the appointees themselves would reflect the confidence that people reside in them.

    “There was a time we had great judges who never compromised their status, role or function. I can’t say that today for some of our judicial officers.

    “It’s not that there are no good men and women in courts. I’m glad to observe that none of my students in the Supreme Court and other courts had been found wanting. I’m not claiming credit for their acting according to their judicial office though.

    “In 1992, I gave a lecture at the Bar conference in Port Harcourt. The title was: ‘Is the judiciary still the last hope of the common man?’ The jury is still out on whether the judiciary can play their allotted role of being the last hope for the common man.”

     

  •  Constitution Amendment: CCT now on First Line Charge

     Constitution Amendment: CCT now on First Line Charge

    …Judges increased from 3 to 40

     

    The House of Representatives Special Ad-hoc Committee on the review of 1999 constitution has moved to insulate the Code of Conduct Tribunal from political influence and enhance its efficiency and effectiveness.

    To this end, Members of the committee unanimously agreed that Code of Conduct Tribunal should not only become full-fledged ‎court, but be listed among the courts that benefit from the first line charge meant for judiciary.

    The committee also agreed that there should be more than one tribunal to handle breach of code of conduct considering the size of nation and baglog of pending cases. For this reason, the committee is proposing an increase in the number of judges of the Code of Conduct Tribunal from three to at least 40.

    The committee chaired by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Sulaimon Lasun Yussuff  after a robust debate at the last Monday meeting of the committee, consultants and PLAC Representatives concluded that only cases involving death penalty, enforcement of human rights and interpretation of the constitution would be entertained at the supreme Courts.

    All matters relating to pre-election matters or election matter and any other cases would be terminated at the Appeal Courts, the committee said.

    The committee so far has treated 40 Bills and at the last meeting, considered the Judiciary ‎Reform Bill. The Bill is a consolidated Bill prepared by heads of courts and judicial bodies in Nigeria.

    The Bill was forwarded to the National Assembly on 26th of January 2017 by the then Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice W S N Onnoghen (CFR) and was sponsored by Hon Aminu Shehu Shagari, chairman House committee of judiciary.

    Some of the highlights of the Bill indicated that the judiciary is trying to review the composition of members of Supreme Court from 21 prescribed by the constitution to 16.

    On the other hand, the proposed law seeks to increase the prescribed minimum membership of the court of Appeal from 41 to 100 justices.

    Similarly, another proposal by the judiciary seeks to reduce in a radical manner the type of cases that goes on appeal to Supreme Court to only three.

    The purpose of this, according to a statement from the committee, is to reduce the workload of the Supreme Court and also increase the capacity of the court of Appeal to shoulder additional responsibilities, including entertaining appeals from the National Industrial Court of Nigeria.

    Members of the committee retained the 20-man composition of the Supreme Court but increase the minimum membership of court of appeal to 100.

    The committee also agreed that cases from the National Industrial court should terminate at the court of Appeal, for this reason, a special division for Industrial matter would be created in line with the existing ones for customary law and Islamic law.

     

  • Fed Govt’s agents, politicians threaten judiciary, says CJN

    Fed Govt’s agents, politicians threaten judiciary, says CJN

    The independence of the judiciary and its ability to dispense justice unhindered are threatened by Federal Government agents and politicians, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, has said.

    Onnoghen regretted an emerging trend where judicial officers (judges and justices) were unduly castigated and accused of corrupt practices by agents of the Federal Government and politicians, without giving them the opportunity to be heard.

    He spoke yesterday during a thanksgiving service in his honour at the Methodist Church Nigeria, Abuja Diocese, Wuse Zone 3.

    “The Judiciary is under threat. Judges and judicial officers, including myself are being castigated without given the opportunity to be heard. But, God knows our heart.

    “I did not set out to be a judge, but today I am a judge by divine intervention. It’s the Lord’s doing, and mine is to follow. My prayer is that God should help me and should not let me down.

    “I thank Nigerians for attending this event. It is supposed to be a personal thing between me and my God, but I have no hiding place. I thank God for fulfilling His promise to me,” Onnoghen said.

    The CJN, who was accompanied by his family , cited the case of Anambra Central Senatorial election, where Senator Uche Ekwunife reportedly accused the Judiciary of robbing her of her mandate, without evidence, as a case of undue accusation of the Judiciary.

    He said the nation would only get it right when the leadership abides by the Constitution and Rule of Law.

    Justice Onnoghen, who thanked God for his eventual emergence as the CJN, urged Nigerians not to relent in their prayers for the sustenance of the judiciary.

    The event was presided over by the Archbishop of Abuja Diocese of the Methodist Church, the Most Reverend Joseph Oche Job.

    The cleric prayed God to direct and give the CJN the wisdom to lead the Judiciary.

    He prayed for peace in the country and urged all to be guided by the fear of God.

    Dignitaries at the event include the Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF), Winifred Oyo-Ita, former governors of Rivers and Cross River states – Peter Odili and Liyel Imoke; and Senator Ndoma Egba.are Justices Mary Odili, Bode Rhodes-Vivour, Clara Ogunbiyi, Olukayode Ariwoola, Chima Nweze and John Okoro (all of the Supreme Court). A retired Justice of the court, John Fabiyi, was also in attendance.

    Others are Adegboyega Awomolo and his wife, Victoria; former Justice Minister and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Bayo Ojo, Niyi Akintola, Sabastine Hon, Alex Izinyon, Sunday Ameh, Yakubu Maikyau and Godwin Obla – all Senior Advocates of Nigeria.

    Officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) invaded the official residences of seven judges late last year and arrested them, accusing them of corruption.

    Following the development, the National Judicial Council (NJC) directed the affected judges to stop sitting, with the exclusion of Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja, whose house the DSS said was visited in error.

    Of the seven, two were charged to court. While Justice Adeniyi Admola (one of the two charged) has since been acquitted, the trial of Justice Sylvester Ngwuta (the second) is fast progressing.

    The others affected judges are currently left idle as the DSS has failed to either charge them to court or issue them with a clearance notice to enable the NJC to direct them to resume duties.

  • Judges who brought shame to the judiciary must be punished – Sagay

    Judges who brought shame to the judiciary must be punished – Sagay

    Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Professor Itse Sagay has said that Judges who brought shame to the judiciary must be punished for authority, power and dignity of the judiciary to be restored.

     

    Also to be punished, according to Prof. Sagay, are public servants n politicians who conspired to bribe and corrupt the judges.

     

    Prof. Sagay said Senior Advocates of Nigeria ‘who shamelessly approach judges and introduce them to culture of corruption deserve harsh punishment.

     

    Speaking in Benin City on Monday at the 2017 Annual Law Week of the Nigeria Bar Association, Edo State Branch, Prof. Sagay urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, to investigate, arrest, and jail lawyers who receive loots as fee from corrupt public servants and politicians. 

     

    In his paper titled: “Corruption in the judiciary; the disciplinary role of the NJC vis-à-vis law enforcement agencies”, Prof Sagay said Judges must be perfect and remain the repository of honour, integrity and high moral authority.

     

    He said when the law court across the country failed to interpret, apply and enforce the law, the existence of the any civilized society will be endangered adding that loss of confidence in the judiciary will amount to chaos and disintegration.

     

    “No one ever expected judges to throw caution, rectitude, honour, justice and the credibility of the judiciary to the winds by selling his judgment. This is the destructive culture brought about by election petitions which has spread like epidemic through our formerly hallowed judicial system.

     

    “The disciplinary procedures of the NJC were not set up for such crime. That is why tragically we are now experiencing judges being tried in court like common criminals. That is why the anti-corruption and security agencies have taken it upon themselves to continue from where the NJC’s authority ends.

     

    “The bottom line is that judges enjoy no immunity from investigation, arrest, trial and conviction.

     

    “In order to restore the authority, power and dignity of the judiciary, we must go through extra ordinary painful process of punishing those who have brought same and obliging to that sacred institution.

     

    “Lawyers should be treated like accomplice after the fact because they share in the proceeds of the crimes of politically exposed persons and once paid from that stained loot, it becomes their life’s struggle to protect and shield the primary criminals from the consequences of their crime.”

     

    In his keynote paper, Prof. Lawrence Atsegbua, stated that the law has failed as a tool of fighting corruption ‘because in spite of laws prescribing stiff penalties for corruption, more money than ever has been stolen from the public coffer by corrupt means.’

     

    Atsegbua noted that all the laws against corruption would fail if disequilibrium in the social status of citizens were not met.

     

    He said Nigerian leaders lack the political will to fight corruption a situation which has hindered socio-economic development.

     

    Atsegbua said, “Corruption has become institutionalized in Nigeria. Despite several efforts by successive governments to curb corruption by the passage of several anti-corruption legislation, it is now clear that corruption can’t be fought solely by legal prescription.

     

    “Fighting corruption within the rule of law in a Democratic society will fail because, the laws divergence from society environment, social and economic inequality in society, lack of implementation capacity and the gain of law breaking exceeds the loss of punishment.

     

    “No matter the number of laws therefore passed by the National Assembly, corruption will still remain a landmark in Nigeria. 

     

    “Unless the state start living up to its responsibilities in providing functioning health services, education, electricity, payment of salaries and gratuity as and when due, the law will fail in its quest to fight corruption in Nigeria.

     

    “The fight against corruption in Nigeria ought to be structural leading to attitudinal change in order to make citizen aversion to corruption a matter of more conviction rather than one legal coercion”.

     

    Chairman of the occasion and Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Esther Ikponmwen, said corruption if not tackled may continue to hamper the growth and development of the country.

     

    Justice Ikponmwen regretted that the judiciary has been affected by the sting of corruption noting that any act that deviates from acceptable standard of the law profession is corruption.

     

    She said successive governments have sought to fight corrupt practices without much result unlike the ongoing corruption fight which has yielded positive outcome.

     

    Justice Daniel Okungbowa in his paper said corruption would stop in Nigeria with the removal of immunity clause and ability to recall lawmakers.

     

    He also prescribed the death penalty for corrupt officials.

  • Judiciary requires urgent reforms, says CJN

    Judiciary requires urgent reforms, says CJN

    The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, has inaugurated a 13-member committee to ensure a comprehensive reform of the judiciary.

    Onnoghen said the establishment of the committee arose from his observation of the urgent need to undertake a holistic review of the operations of the nation’s judiciary.

    The spokesman to the CJN, Awassam Bassey, said in a statement yesterday that the committee’s terms of reference include the identification of the challenges hindering its efficient and effective operation as an independent arm of government.

    The committee, inaugurated by the CJN in Abuja yesterday, is headed by the Secretary of the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), Bilkisu Bashir, with an Assistant Director of Administration in the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Royal Sunday Issah, as the Secretary.

    Bassey quoted Onnoghen as saying: “You will agree with me that over time, the judiciary, due to its conservative nature, had stagnated in its operations, while the other arms of government have continued to undergo reforms.

    “It is now more urgent than ever to undertake a holistic reform of the judiciary.”

    Bassey also quoted Bashir as assuring that the committee will leave no stone unturned in its effort to submit a report that will make the country’s judiciary one of the best in the world.

    Other members of the committee include Directors of Administration from the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the National Judicial Council (NJC), Federal High Court, Court of Appeal, Sharia Court of Appeal, Customary Court of Appeal, Federal Capital Territory High Court, National Industrial Court and the President of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN).

    According to Bassey, the committee’s terms of reference include:

    *To carry out a comprehensive analysis of the administrative structure and operations of the three arms of the government with a view to exploring areas of comparative advantage and mutual cooperation.

    *To undertake a comprehensive review of the operations and conditions of service of the Nigerian judiciary with a view to enhancing general efficiency and effectiveness.

    *To recommend long and short-term measures that would help in the general improvement of the welfare/conditions of service of both judicial and non-judicial officers

    *To call for memoranda from former CJNs, PCAs, CRs and other stakeholders on the way forward.

    *To create a professional/management structure for the administration of the judiciary with a “head” well versed in judicial administration.

    *To create a professional bailiffs and sheriffs’/judiciary police department.

    *To propose a pooling policy and recommend a rule to empower the Federal Judicial Service Commission to commence the operation of a pooling system of senior officers within the judiciary.

    *To propose and recommend to the NJI the review of its training syllabus to include short-term courses for certification of judiciary personnel with a view of enhancing their career development.

    *To make any other recommendations that will help in repositioning the judiciary for optimal performance.

  • Reconsider, review welfare packages in judiciary – Ex-Ekiti deputy speaker advises FG, states

    Reconsider, review welfare packages in judiciary – Ex-Ekiti deputy speaker advises FG, states

    A Former Deputy Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Orisalade Adetunji Taiwo has called on the Federal and State Governments to comprehensively review the Welfare Packages of Judicial Officers and the Staff under them.

    Whilst applauding the searchlight beamed on the Judiciary in the Anti-corruption drive, the Ex-Lawmaker says the journey should not end there.

    According to him, there should be a concomitant exploration into how comfortable these Officers are in the performance of their highly sensitive jobs.

    These Officers are not on a sacrifice mission, they are to serve the Country to the best of their abilities, which must be enhanced by the Nation.

    What is the essence of giving the Judge a House and a car without enough fund to maintain them? He queried.

    Even where some funds are given in some cases, it has been same in the last ten years without any increment.

    The Lawmaker further says that the Governments should not forget that the Judicial officers are human beings too, operating within the Nigerian society and who are equally subjected to pressures from an array of dependants.

    To him, the need for such review is highly desirable and urgent.

  • Nnamdi Oji, judiciary and goal-line tech

    The umpire fall short: Most followers of football would be aware of that new device known as goal-line technology. It is not entirely new as it has been in use in tennis for some time. For readers who are not sports fans, this is simply a high-technology electronic device being introduced to help referees make more accurate decisions.

    Many sports, for instance, football and lawn tennis, depend on the ball crossing lines to determine a result. But no matter how thin a line is, there always arise tricky borderline situations. Let’s illustrate: a ball, be it football or tennis ball can fall spat on the line, it can fall on the line with more of it in front of the line and it can equally fall on the line with more of it at the back of the line.

    The ball may even be frantically cleared as it hangs above the line. But was the ball cleared from inside the net, whereupon it would have been a goal? Most times the referee is not sure; sometimes he is sure but like all humans, he sees an opportunity to make a biased or mischievous call. He may even be compromised so he makes capital of a confused situation.

    Forgive my long digressive introduction but the above analogy is most apt for a small legal issue that has been thrown up in the matter of a certain Citizen Nnamdi Oji. Here is a quick synopsis: Citizen Oji contested an election; his opponent rigged like crazy, openly mutilating the result sheets. Even the electoral umpire confirmed that the result was doctored.

    Citizen Oji gathered all the evidence, went to the tribunal, but his opponent manipulated both the lower tribunal and the appeal panel and affirmed his dubious result. Citizen Oji petitioned the Judicial Council. The council investigated his case, found merit in it, sanctioned the errant justices and bade Citizen Oji goodbye.

    But Citizen Oji insists on justice. The electoral system was breached, his mandate was stolen, justice was miscarried and in all of this, the judiciary would not redeem itself by affording him remedy through a review of his case. Even though the matter had exhausted its course having reached the apex court of jurisdiction, Citizen Oji insists on a review, on remedy, on restitution and on justice. Perhaps Nigeria’s judiciary needs goal-line technology for cases like this?

    A pathetic odyssey: Oji was the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate for Arochukwu/Ohafia Federal Constituency election into the House of Representatives election on March 28, 2015.

    Now Oji will not stop weeping since after the election. His is a pathetic story about a chaotic electoral process, a rotten judiciary and a society where justice is simply sold, bought and almost, always miscarried. Though his struggle for justice has gone as high up as the National Judicial Council (NJC) resulting in just punishment for some of the justices, he still insists on an independent review of his case as the only remedy for his pains. The review, he insists, would also serve as precedential milestone for both electoral processes and election petition matters.

     

     

    Igbo leaders and ‘stomach’ politics

    It’s a mad rush; a scramble indeed! Each new day another set of Igbo weasels dive into the APC gravy train as if the world is coming to an end. As one wrote, it was Senator Andy Uba who announced his ‘escape’ from PDP. Prominent among the early birds were Chief Jim Nwobodo, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, Senator Ken Nnamani and even businessman, Emeka Offor.

    Was it not these men who led almost the entire Igbo nation to commit political ‘suicide’ by supporting PDP against APC? Regardless that APC is currently not performing to expectations, they scurry back to their excrement in search of worms (positions and contracts). People devoid of any iota of principle, they have left Ndigbo in the cold.

    But Ndigbo are not fooled because in due time, a stuffed stomach will only give off much belching…

  • Ensure Independence of  judiciary, new Chief judge tells Obaseki

    Ensure Independence of  judiciary, new Chief judge tells Obaseki

     

     

    The New Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Esohe Frances Ikponmwen, has tasked Governor Godwin Obaseki to respect the rule of law and ensure independence of the judiciary as enshrined in section 6 of the Nigeria Constitution.

    Justice Ikponmwen who spoke after she was sworn-in as the Chief Judge of the state promised to work assiduously for the enthronement of justice in its finest form in the state.

    Making reference to the seven months unpaid salaries of judicial workers in the state over strike action, Justice Ikponmwen appealed for forgiveness where there are perceived wrongs saying ‘it is time to forge ahead and heal wounds.’

    Justice Ikponmwen stated that her work ethics and what makes her happy ‘is that in matters of principle, I stand as a rock.’

    Her words, “There will be no room for corrupt practices in our judicial system nor for undue favoritism and influence or untoward conduct by judicial officer.

    “All judicial officer will be made to understand that every court must be ready to prevent the improper use of its machinery as a means of vexation and oppression in the process of litigation.

    “I appeal to staff of the judiciary to be patient. We shall not allow ourselves to be controlled by people, money or past experiences.”

    On his part, Governor Godwin Obaseki said the over 500% increase in the budgetary provision in this year’s budget is to enhance quick dispensation of justice.

    Governor Obaseki promised to respect the rule of law and called for more cordial relationship among all arms of government.