- It’s regrettable – Chief Justice of Nigeria
- Monetary recovery from homes false – Fani-Kayode
- Arrested judges be immediately arraigned without delay- Falana
- Arrest mere intimidation of the judiciary – Wike
The Friday midnight operations by the Department of Security Service (DSS) into the early hours of Saturday leading to the arrest of some judges across the country have continued to generate controversies in the polity.
More so, the revelation by the DSS of the amount of money, in different currencies, recovered from the search operations, is also raising doubt among several political and state actors and other stakeholders.
The DSS arrested four judges – Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and John Okoro of the Supreme Court; Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court in Abuja and Justice Mu’azu Pindiga of the Gombe State High Court, accusing them of corruption and judicial misconduct.
The DSS, in a statement on Saturday, revealed that the Service, in its search operations at the residence of the judges, recovered N93,558,000.00, $530,087, £25,970 and €5,680.
Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation, had dismissed the disclosures by the DSS that massive sums of cash ranging from USD2 million to hundreds of thousands of euros and pounds sterling and millions of Naira were found in the residence of all the judges, as absurd.
“If anyone honestly believes that such large sums of cash were found in the homes of any of those judges, then, that person needs to have his head examined,” he argued.
Fani-Kayode stated: “the DSS has to say these outrageous things and tell these shameful lies in order to attempt to justify their illegal actions before the world. It is called disinformation and misinformation and that is their stock in trade.”
“That is what intelligence and security agencies all over the world are paid to do. They destroy their victims before the world with lies and baseless allegations, knowing that most Nigerians will believe anything and everything that the government says,” he stated.
“It is sickening and pathetic. In any case nothing can possibly justify the gestapo tactics that the state has employed in this matter. The storming of people’s homes in the middle of the night and the brutalisation and traumatisation of their families, loved ones and households is archaic and barbaric,” the former minister declared.
Fani-Kayode lamented: “Clearly Nigeria is saddled with a President that is a cross between Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, King Leopold 11 of Belgium, Josef Stalin, Pol Pot, Papa Doc Duvalier, Augusto Pinochet, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, Mobutu Sese Seko, Genghis Khan, Atilla the Hun, Count Vlad Dracula and Idi Amin, all rolled into one.”
Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike of Rivers State also condemned the DSS for deliberate misinformation and concocted stories to justify their unconstitutional assault on the country’s third arm of government, the judiciary. He contended that the DSS lacks the constitutional powers to be involved in the legal process to discipline of a serving judicial official, stating that there is a legal process that must be followed.
Wike maintained that the weak blackmail of the DSS will not lessen the crime they have committed against the Nigerian State by assaulting the judiciary. “Their blackmail stories will not move me. They will concoct all kinds of stories to justify this undemocratic illegality perpetrated against the judiciary. It is really unfortunate that DSS would concoct a false defence that $2 million was found in the house of the judge. It is unfortunate that the DSS is coming up with flimsy excuses,” the governor declared, adding that the act is merely to intimidate the judiciary and the oppositions.
“This impunity must stop. … We must not do things that will jeopardise our hard earned democracy. If they had abducted the judge, they may go ahead to kill the judge and they will say that Rivers State is insecure,” Wike had said inter alia.
Femi Falana (SAN), opposed the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in demanding immediate unconditional release of the arrested judges, saying that the NBA statement is an embarrassment to the “incorruptible members of the bar”. He had accused the NBA of continuing to shield corrupt judges and lawyers.
“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,” Falana had remarked.
“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, observed that since the arrested judges “are presumed innocent until the contrary is proved by the State, they should be admitted to bail in self recognisance.” He, therefore, urged the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to ensure that the judges were immediately arraigned without delay.
However, Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West, was of the view that the DSS operatives acted outside their constitutional mandate.
The Senator acknowledged that though there was the need to rid the judiciary of corruption, he argued that, “the approach adopted by President Muhammadu Buhari was totally wrong and unacceptable.”
Melaye maintained that though judges have no immunity and could be tried, the use of DSS by government was “absolutely wrong and unacceptable.”
“I have studied the Act setting up DSS, Nigerian Intelligence Agency and DIA and can conclude that the DSS operatives went outside their core mandate. There is no doubt that many judges are corrupt. It is also important to state the need to sanitise the judiciary of corruption that make judges not to give commercial rulings which create terrible precedence in our legal system. Judges have no immunity and can be tried and should be tried but the use of DSS is absolutely wrong,” Melaye declared. He added that, “The DSS operatives overstretched themselves and conducted investigations on the judges. They ought to have handed over their findings to the appropriate institutions of government: the Police or National Judicial Council for prosecution and punishment.”
He insisted that the rule of law is a core value of governance and therefore must be guided jealousy; noting that prosecution of civil and corruption cases is not the responsibility of DSS; internal security is the main duty of the DSS and they should stick to that.
Meanwhile, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, this Monday, revealed that the NJC would meet on Tuesday (Tomorrow) to take a decision on the arrest of several judicial officers.
Chief Justice Mohammed described the arrest of judicial officers as “regrettable.” He remarked that “it is indeed very saddening and deeply regrettable, the distressing and unfortunate incident which occurred on Friday, October 7 and Saturday, October 8, 2016.” He commended the NBA for their prompt response. “…I must express my sincere appreciation to the executive of the Nigerian Bar Association, ably led by the President, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), and indeed, all members of the legal profession for their prompt action and continued support,” Justice Mohammed said.