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Tag: Soji Oye

  • NJC issues fresh query to Acting CJN

    *Gives him 7 days to respond
    *Sets up 5-man panel to further probe allegations against Onnoghen, Muhammad

    The National Judicial Council ( NJC ) rose again from its meeting on Wednesday and resolved to direct the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad to respond within seven days, to a fresh petition written against him by the Action People’s Party (APP).

    The NJC also elected to set up a five-man investigation committee to further look examine the allegations against the suspended CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen and Muhammad. The committee is headed by a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice S. A. Akintan.

    It was learnt that all the members of the new committee are members of the NJC.

    A statement issued by NJC’s spokesman, Soji Oye reads: “In continuation of its Emergency Meeting, the National Judicial Council accepted the result of the preliminary assessment of the petitions against Hon. Mr. Justice W. S. N. Onnoghen, GCON and Hon. Mr. Justice I. T. Muhammad, CFR that the petitions were worthy of further investigation and should not be terminated under Rule 17 of the Judicial Discipline Regulations of the Council.

    Read Also: NJC gives Onnoghen seven days to defend himself

    “Consequently, the council constituted a five-member Investigation Committee pursuant to Rule 20 (1) of the Judicial Discipline Regulations under the Chairmanship of Hon. Mr. Justice S. A. Akintan, CON, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

    “A new petition against Hon. Mr. Justice I. T. Muhammad, CFR, by the Action People’s Party (APP) was referred to the Hon. Mr. Justice for his comments within an abridged 7-days.

    “Council directed the Investigation Committee to work expeditiously, determine all the petitions and responses and report to Council for a final decision.”

  • Breaking: NJC to decide Onnoghen, Muhammad’s fate Wednesday

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) has fixed February 13 for its possible decision on the petitioners against the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen and the Acting CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad.

    The body, which rose a moment ago from its emergency meeting, elected to constitute a Preliminary Complaints Assessment Committee in accordance with its Regulation 17, to consider the responses from Onnoghen and Muhammad.

    The NJC, in a statement by its spokesman, Soji Oye, also forwarded a fresh petition from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Onnoghen to him for his response.

    The statement reads: “The National Judicial Council reconvened today in an Emergency Meeting to consider the responses of Hon. Mr. Justice W.S.N. Onnoghen, GCON and Hon. Mr. Justice I.T. Muhammad, CFR to the three petitions written against them.

    Read Also:  CCT insists on Onnoghen’s appearance

    “Members resolved to constitute a Preliminary Complaints Assessment Committee, in accordance with Regulation 17 of the National Judicial Council Judicial Discipline Regulations, 2017 and report to Council on the 13th of February 2019.

    “The Council will reconvene on Wednesday, 13th February, 2019.

    “Council also received a new petition written by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against Hon. Mr. Justice W.S.N. Onnoghen, GCON and forwarded it to him for his response within seven (7) working days.

    “Council reaffirmed its confidence in Hon. Mr. Justice Umaru Abdullahi, CON and continues under his Interim Chairmanship.”

  • Updated: NJC queries Onnoghen, Muhammad

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) rose from its emergency meeting a moment ago with a decision to allow suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the acting CJN, Justices Walter Onnoghen and Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad seven days to respond to petitions pending against them.

    The petition against Onnoghen relates to the allegation of violation of the code of conduct for public officers in relation to his alleged failure to declare his assets.

    The petition against Muhammad relates to his alleged misconduct in allowing himself to be sworn-in in manner that breach existing law, tradition and constitutional provisions.

    NJC’s Director, Information Soji Oye, said, in a statement that the council also elected to refer petition against CCT Chairman, Danladi Yakubu Umar to the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC).

    It was learnt that Onnoghen and Muhammad were absent from the meeting, which was eventually chaired by retired Court of Appeal President, Umaru Abdulahi.

    The case against Umar, The Nation learnt, relates to his alleged abuse of judicial authority of breach of constitutional provisions by the orders he made in the course of proceedings in the charge against the suspended CJN.

    One of such orders is where the CCT rejected to be bound by orders given by High Courts, directing it to stay proceedings.

    Another is the ex-parte order the CCT made, on which President Muhammadu Buhari claimed to have relied in suspended Onnoghen and inaugurated Muhammad in acting capacity.

    It was also learnt that the NJC chose to abridge the usual 14 response time to seven, in view of the weighty issues involved in the petitions against Onnoghen and Muhammad.

    NJC adjourned to reconvene on February, 11 this year.

    Read Also; Onnoghen: NJC members in move to save Judiciary

    The statement reads: “The National Judicial Council held an Emergency Meeting today and considered four (4) petitions filed at its Secretariat. The petitions are:

    “Petition against Hon. Mr. Justice W.S.N. Onnoghen, GCON by Zikhrillahi Ibrahim of Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civil Education;

    “Petition against Hon. Mr. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, CFR by Centre for Justice and Peace Initiative;

    “Petition against Hon. Mr. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, CFR by Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, OON; and

    “Petition against Hon. Danladi Yakubu Umar, Chairman, Code of Conduct Tribunal by Centre for Justice and Peace Initiative.

    “Council referred the petition against Hon. Danladi Yakubu Umar to the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) which is the appropriate constitutional body empowered to deal with it.

    “In line with its procedure, Council also forwarded the petitions against Hon. Justices W.S.N. Onnoghen, GCON and I. T. Muhammad, CFR to them for their responses.

    “In view of the gravity of the matters involved, Council abridged the usual response period from fourteen (14) to seven (7) working days for the Hon. Justices to respond.

    “Hon. Mr. Justice W. S. N. Onnoghen, GCON and Hon. Mr. Justice I.T. Muhammad, CFR recused themselves from the meeting. Consequently, Council elected Hon. Mr. Justice Umaru Abdullahi, CON, former President of the Court of Appeal as Interim Chairman to preside over the meeting.

    “Council will reconvene on the 11th February, 2019.”

     

     

  • Process to appoint Appeal Court judges not concluded – NJC

    Process to appoint Appeal Court judges not concluded – NJC

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) has distanced itself from a purported list of judges appointed to the Court of Appeal bench.

    It said the list is fake and fabricated by some mischievous hands, because its process to hire 14 judges for the Court of Appeal bench was still in progress.

    NJC’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

    He also faulted reports that candidates from the South East were excluded from the process.

    The statement reads:

    “The attention of the National Judicial Council has been drawn to an online publication and some newspapers alleging the National Judicial Council of recommending 14 judges for appointment to the Court of Appeal, and that none of the candidates shortlisted was from the South-East.

    “This allegation is nothing but a figment of the imagination of the online media as the exercise is ongoing and no candidate has been recommended so far.

    “To put the records straight, appointment of Judicial Officers to the Court of Appeal is done on merit and geographical spread.

    “Section 2 of Court of Appeal (Amendment) Act, 2013, governing the appointment of judges of Court of Appeal provides that the total number of judges to be appointed should not be more than 90 plus the President.

    “The court, however, currently has 76 judges leaving vacancy for additional 14 judges.

    “Of the 76 judges of the court, the North Central with six states and FCT has 12 judges; North-East with six states has 12 judges plus the President; North-West with seven states has nine judges; South-East with five states has 13 judges; South-South with six states has 14 and South-West with six states has 15.

    “In considering appointment for the 14 vacancies, and to ensure that each zone is adequately resented, all states that have three serving judges were not considered unless under special circumstances.

    “The states not considered are: Anambra, Bauchi, Borno, Cross-River, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kogi, Kwara and Oyo.

    “States like Adamawa, Kebbi and Sokoto have zero representation, which informed the need to include them in the current exercise.”

  • NJC to probe 15 judges

    NJC to probe 15 judges

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) has commenced the investigation of 15 judges nationwide, following petitions written against them by aggrieved litigants.

    Among the judges being investigated are two Chief Judges.

    Accordingly, the NJC has constituted 15 committees to investigate various allegations in the petitions against the judges.

    NJC’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, who disclosed these in a statement on Monday, was silent on the identity of the affected judges.

    Oye said NJC constituted the committees at its 83rd meeting held in Abuja last week.

    “During the meeting the NJC considered the reports of the two Preliminary Complaints Assessment Committees (PCAC) set up to examine 46 petitions written against judges of both federal and state courts,” he said.

    According to him, the Council also agreed to recommend a Lagos-based lawyer, Adesina Ogunlana, to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (L.P.D.C.) for misconduct, for allegedly using “uncouth” language in a petition he wrote against a former Chief Judge of Lagos, Justice O. O. Atilade.

    Oye said the NJC treated as withdrawn, the petitions against Ondo State’s Acting Chief Judge, Justice O. O. Akeredolu and Justice J. T. Tsoho of the Federal High Court.

    He said the Council also issued two letters of advice to Justice M. A. Dada of the Lagos State High Court and. Justice Chukwudi Charles Okaa of the Anambra State High Court for violation of extant laws in the course of their judicial duties.

     

  • List of 19 Judges approved by Osinbajo

    List of 19 Judges approved by Osinbajo

    The Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday approved the appointment of 19 judges for the National Industrial Court of Nigeria.

    This is contained in a statement signed by Soji Oye, spokesman of the National Judicial Council (NJC).said Walter Onnoghen, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), would swear them in on Friday.

    According to Oye, Walter Onnoghen, Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), would swear them in on Friday.

    Judges
    Judges pose for photograph

    “They will be sworn in by the honourable, the chief justice of Nigeria and chairman, national judicial council, Hon. Justice W. S. N. Onnoghen, GCON, on Friday, 14th July, 2017, by 3:00pm at the Supreme Court of Nigeria,” the statement read.

    THE JUDGES:

    • Targema John Iorngee (Benue)
    • Namtari Mahmood Abba (Adamawa)
    • Nweneka Gerald Ikechi (Rivers)
    • Kado Sanusi (Katsina)
    • Adeniyi Sinmisola Oluyinka (Ogun)
    • Abiola Adunola Adewemimo (Osun)
    • Opeloye Ogunbowale A (Lagos)
    • Essien Isaac Jeremiah (Akwa-Ibom)
    • Elizabeth Ama Oji (Ebonyi)
    • Arowosegbe Olukayode Ojo (Ondo)
    • Ogbuanya Nelson S. Chukwudi (Enugu)
    • Bashir Zaynab Mohammed (Niger)
    • Galadima Ibrahim Suleiman (Nasarawa)
    • Bassi Paul Ahmed (Borno)
    • Danjidda Salisu Hamisu (Kano)
    • Hamman Idi Polycarp (Taraba)
    • Damulak Kiyersohot Dashe (Plateau)
    • Alkali Bashar Attahiru (Sokoto)
    • Mustapha Tijjani (Jigawa)

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  • NJC lied on Justice Ademola’s acquittal – AGF

    NJC lied on Justice Ademola’s acquittal – AGF

    The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) on Monday faulted claim by the National Judicial Council (NJC) that there was no pending appeal against the acquittal of Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court.

    NJC’s Director, Information, Soji Oye, in a statement on Saturday faulted claim by the Special Assistant to the President on Prosecution, Okoi Obono-Obla, that the Federal Government has appealed the acquittal of Justice Ademola.

    Oye said investigation by NJC’s officials revealed that there was no valid appeal filed against the April 5 ruling by Justice Jude Okeke of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) acquitting Justice Ademola, his wife and a lawyer, Joe Agi (SAN).

    But, in a statement on Monday, Obono-Obla said Oye’s statement contained false assertions and deliberate misrepresentation of law and facts.

    He said one of the assertions was Oye’s claim “that the Office of Attorney General of the Federation had on two occasions – April 18, 2017 and April 21, 2017 – shunned invitations by the Federal Capital Territory High Court for settlement of records of appeal which if it had done would have elevated the notices of appeal to proper appeal.’’

    Obono-Obla said contrary to Oye’s claim, the FCT High Court Registry, by a notice dated June 6, 2017 and signed by one Paul A. Edili (Head of Appeal) invited both parties to the appeal to attend court on June 14, 2017 for the purpose reconciliation of records of appeal.

    He said: “I challenged Soji Oye to furnish us with proof of service of this notice which the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation shunned.

    “It is obvious that Soji Oye in his haste to defend the indefensible muddled up the law concerning the role of an appellant and the registry of the court where an appeal is emanating from. In the interest of the discerning public and the need to the record straight, I wish to state as follows:

    “By Order 8 of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2016, the registrar of the court below has a duty to compile and transmit the record of appeal to the Appeal Court. This he has 60 days to do; commencing from the day the notice of appeal is filed. And it is immaterial that parties do not attend court for purpose of settlement of the said record.

    “It is only where the registrar fails or neglects to transmit the record of appeal in accordance with Order 8, Rules 1-3, that the appellant may intervene upon the expiration of the initial 60 days, to compile and transmit the record of appeal. And the appellant has additional 30 days to do so. See Order 8, Rule 4 of the Court of Appeal Rules 2016.

    “In the instant case, I am unaware of any notice for settlement of record of appeal served on the office of the AGF apart from that issued on the 6th day of June, 2017 against the 14th day of June 2017, just after the filing of additional notice of appeal. And even that was issued at the instance of the office of the AGF.

    “But assuming there was any notice for settlement of record of appeal, the failure of the appellant to attend court for settlement of the said record would not prevent the registrar of the lower court from performing his duty in line with Order 8, Rule 2 of the Court of Appeal Rules 2016.

    “If the notice of appeal was filed on the 7th day of April, 2017, the registrar of the lower court had 60 good days (under the Rules) expiring on 7th June, 2017 to settle and transmit the record of appeal.”

  • NJC faults NBA’s call for suspension of affected judges

    NJC faults NBA’s call for suspension of affected judges

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) has faulted the call by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for the compulsory suspension of some judges recently arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) on corruption allegations.
    The NBA President, Abubakar Mahmud (SAN) had, at a function in Abuja on Thursday, urged the affected judges to either be sent on compulsory suspension or cease to exercise their judicial powers until their innocence was proved.
    The NJC argued in a statement late on Friday that the NBA was wrong in calling for the judges’ suspension having earlier supported the council’s decision to condemn the arrest, which it described as an attempt to cow the Judiciary.
    The statement by its Acting Director, Information, Soji Oye, stated that the council could only exercise its disciplinary powers over judicial officers where due processes were complied with.
    NJC said the midnight invasion of the judges’ houses and their arrest by DSS violated due process and could not serve as a basis for the NJC to suspend the affected judicial officers.

  • NJC retires judge over misconduct

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) has recommended the immediate retirement of Justice B. T. Ebuta of the High Court of Justice, Cross River State.

    NJC’s spokesman, Soji Oye, said in a statement on Friday that the judge was found guilty of judicial misconduct and abuse of office.

    He said the NJC took the decision to retire Justice Ebuta  at its 76th meeting held on Wednesday and Thursday.

    The NJC has therefore recommended to the Cross River State governor to immediately approve the judge retirement.

    The Council also ordered his immediate suspension pending when the governor will approve his retirement.

    The NJC said Justice Ebuta was recommended for compulsory retirement from office, sequel to the findings by the Council on the allegations of abuse of judicial power, suppression and illegal/forceful takeover of a property in Calabar as contained in the petition written against him by Dr. Ekanem Cobham.

  • NJC directs most senior judge to act as Rivers CJ

    NJC directs most senior judge to act as Rivers CJ

    THE National Judicial Council (NJC) yesterday directed the most senior judge in the Rivers State High Court and Customary Court of Appeal to oversee the assigning of cases to judges.

    This was contained in a statement by Acting Director of Information, NJC Office, Soji Oye.

    The statement said the two senior judges would also perform other related administrative duties.

    It said the NJC took the decision at its 67th meeting held on May 27 during which it deliberated on the non-appointment of a substantive or acting Chief Judge for the state.

    The statement noted with concern the attendant consequences of this development on administration of justice.

    It stated that NJC took the decision to correct the impression created on NJC’s decision on the appointment of the chief judge.

    “Suffice it to say that the law abhors a vacuum, therefore, where there is a vacuum, the law must fill it,’’ it stated.

    NJC had on March 27 suspended Justice Peter Agumagu as the Chief Judge. He was sworn-in by Governor Rotimi Amaechi on March 18.

    Agumagu, until his appointment as chief judge, which NJC said breached Section 271 of the 1999 Constitution, was a former President, Rivers Customary Court of Appeal.

    Agumagu has challenged his suspension  and the suit is before an Abuja Federal High Court.