Tag Archives: judges

DSS raid on judges’ homes was a needless violation of the law – Saraki

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Bukola Saraki, senate president, says the raid conducted on judges’ homes in October 2016 was a needless violation of Nigeria’s laws.

The homes of seven judges were raided by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on allegations of corruption.

Speaking on Thursday at a national dialogue on the fight against corruption organised by the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Saraki said the operation by DSS without search warrants “leaves much to be desired”.

The senate president who was represented by Chukwuka Utazi said, “The recent so-called sting operation by the Department of State Services on the residences of some very senior justices, some without search warrants, others without any proof of incriminating body of evidence, leaves much to be desired.

“It is even more instructive that by Section 2(1)(e) of the EFCC Act, the Department of State Services sits on the board of the EFCC and could easily, in their meetings, point out the persons or bodies the EFCC needs to investigate and prosecute backed up by the evidence it has clandestinely gathered.

“That sting operation was a needless violation of our laws and an aberration that democratic society should consider anathema. The EFCC should have been provided the necessary intelligence to execute its mandate if the evidence disclosed a prima facie case against the justices.

“In the same vein, PACAC should not lend itself to supporting extra-legal actions if the fight against corruption must be sustained and ingrained in the body polity. A situation where PACAC speaks in favour of patently extra-legal means of law enforcement does not bode well for the rule of law.”

 

Source: The Cable

Turkey dismisses 227 judges, prosecutors.

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Turkey’s top judicial body on Monday dismissed 227 judges and prosecutors who are accused of having links to a cleric blamed for last year’s coup attempt, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Since the failed coup in July, 2016, 3,886 members of the judiciary have been expelled.

The government blames the putsch on Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Turkish preacher and one-time ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his followers.

Mr. Gulen denies the accusations.

Turkey has jailed more than 43,000 people since July on allegations of ties to the Gulenist movement and fired tens of thousands of civil servants and members of the security forces.

Trials have started in the cases of soldiers who took part in the coup, with some denying they have links to Gulen, according to local media reports from the courts.

Turkey heads to a referendum on April 16 in which voters will decide on whether to expand Mr. Erdogan’s powers.

Opposition groups warn checks and balances would be eroded.

 

Source: NAN

SERAP writes Buhari on unpaid salaries of judges

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The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari requesting him “to use your good offices and leadership to urgently instruct all appropriate authorities to release budgetary allocations for the immediate payment of outstanding salaries and allowances of judges and judicial workers across the country.”

In the letter dated January 18, 2017 and signed by SERAP executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, the organisation said that, “The Senate of Nigeria has disclosed that federal judges have not been paid their salaries and allowances for four months. SERAP is seriously concerned that failing to pay regularly and punctually the salaries and allowances of judges amounts to an implicit interference, and would seem to make judges dependent on the will of other branches of government, especially the executive, for the payment of their salaries.”

The organisation said that, “Should all outstanding salaries and allowances of judges and judicial workers not immediately paid, SERAP will explore all legal avenues nationally and internationally to compel your government to uphold the cardinal principle of judicial independence by ensuring a policy of regular and punctual payment of salaries and allowances of judges and judicial workers.”

The letter reads in part: “SERAP notes that the independence of the judiciary has always been considered one of the important elements of the Nigerian constitutional system. This cardinal constitutional and international guarantee cannot be made to yield to any alleged economic necessity.”

“SERAP believes that it is a contradiction in terms to fight judicial corruption and yet not regularly and punctually pay judges and judicial workers their salaries and allowances. If we may ask, what is the point of granting the judiciary independence on the one hand if it is taken away with the other, for example, by failing and/or refusing to regularly and punctually pay their salaries and allowances? SERAP argues that that which is prohibited from being done directly may not be accomplished by indirection. The law abhors evasions and subterfuges.”

“It is important for our judiciary to remain perfectly independent, and beyond the suspicion of any outside influence. SERAP believes that the effect of the non-payment of salaries and allowances of judges is to reduce the purchasing power of judges, diminish the benefits to which they are entitled under the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and ultimately weaken the judiciary, which is the last hope of the common man.”

“It is double jeopardy for our judges whose salaries and allowances are not regularly and punctually paid, as these judges may not, by reason of their calling, be able to personally challenge the matter in court. And the possibility of resolving the matter in a judicial proceeding may be limited since several judges have an interest in the matter, and may not therefore with propriety undertake to hear and decide it.”

“It will be a national embarrassment if our judges are compelled to decide this, since the judges like every citizen have a right to an effective remedy and they will be perfectly entitled to approach the court for reliefs if your government does not urgently find satisfactory solutions to this problem.”

“For a government that has repeatedly expressed commitment to fight official corruption, it is absolutely important to work proactively to maintain the principle of the separation of powers as a basis for liberty and justice, especially given the fact that the judiciary is the most vulnerable of the three branches of government.”

“It will be extremely difficult to attract good and competent men and women to the bench, and to make them independent when the salaries and allowances of judges are not regularly and punctually paid.”

“Refusing to pay the salaries and allowances of judges may well be construed as having for its purpose an attack upon the independence of the judiciary, as judges are less independent if they have to beg for their salaries and allowances to be paid.”

“It is essential to the preservation of the rights of every individual, his/her life, liberty, property, and character, that there be an impartial interpretation of the laws, and administration of justice. But the right of every citizen to be tried by judges as free, impartial, and independent as the lot of humanity will admit cannot be enjoyed as long as judges’ salaries and allowances are not regularly and punctually paid.”

“An independent judge is a proper and necessary guardian of human rights, and should never be subservient to those on whom they are dependent for their salaries, and their bread. The independence of the judiciary cannot be sacrificed because of an economic depression. And the provisions of the constitution cannot be disregarded on the same ground, and as such, regular and punctual payment of judges’ salaries and allowances ought to be your government’s top priority.”

“SERAP therefore urges you to use your good offices and leadership position to instruct the appropriate authorities to release budgetary allocations to ensure the immediate payment of all outstanding salaries and allowances of judges and judicial workers.”

“We also urge you to publicly commit and guarantee regular and timely payment of salaries and allowances of judges and judicial workers.”

 

Source: Premium Times

Gambian lawyers accuse ‘mercenary’ Nigerian judges of backing Jammeh

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Gambian lawyers and members of the country’s opposition have accused the country’s leader, Yahya Jammeh, of using “mercenary judges” from Nigeria, and other officials sent as technical assistants to the country’s judiciary, to hound dissidents.

The Gambian Bar Association also accused the Chief Justice of Gambia, Emmanuel Fagbenle, of plotting to use Nigerian judges to overturn the outcome of the December 1, 2016 presidential election in which Mr. Jammeh lost to Adama Barrow.

After initially conceding defeat and congratulating Mr. Barrow, Mr. Jammeh, who has ruled the tiny West Africa country for 22 years, recanted.

He claimed the polls were characterised by “unacceptable abnormalities”, and filed a petition challenging the result and praying that he be declared winner.

The Gambian opposition, including the GBA and other activist groups, argue that by unanimously annulling the election, Mr. Jammeh usurped the role of the country’s Supreme Court, flouted the tenet of the constitution and possibly committed treason.

“While under normal circumstances the right to petition against election results does exist, the situation in the Gambia now, is that there is no constituted panel of the Supreme Court,” the Gambian Bar Association wrote in a statement.

“The GBA notes with concern that since May 2015, there has not been a sitting Supreme Court session due to the absence of a panel. This is despite several reminders issued to the Chief Justice by members of the Bar. In the circumstance; it would be against the principle of natural justice to for the outgoing President to appoint Supreme Court judges to hear a Petition filed by him or on his behalf,” the statement added.

The body said the last decision of the court was not in favour of the government and resulted in the acquittal of former Chief of Defence Staff, Lang Tombong Tamba, a general, and Sarjo Fofana, a rear admiral.

Shortly after that Mr. Jammeh dismissed the only two permanent Supreme Court judges, Sallieu Taal, former Vice President of the Gambian Bar Association further explained in an email to PREMIUM TIMES.

Hobnobbing with Jammeh

The Gambia’s Bar Association accuse the Chief Justice, Mr. Fagbenle, of plotting to manipulate the judiciary to give a verdict in favour of Mr. Jammeh.

The country’s lawyers said at an emergency meeting on December 12, 2016, the Bar Association “unanimously passed a resolution and mandated the Executive of the Association to call for the resignation of Mr. Fagbenle as the Chief Justice of The Gambia”.

In a letter addressed to the Chief Justice, the association stated that Mr. Fagbenle’s had no moral right to occupy the office after his alleged openly bias position during the election.

“It was resolved by the members of the GBA that your conduct during the presidential campaign has brought disrepute to the Office of the Chief Justice,” the letter read in part.

“The position of the Chief Justice is a constitutional position and as the head of third arm of government, you are expected to maintain and uphold certain standards. You have in our considered view woefully failed to adhere to these standards,” the letter continued.

The GBA said during the campaigns leading to the election, Mr. Fagbenle openly attended the ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction, APRC, rallies. They further added that on the day Mr. Jammeh was nominated as the candidate of his party, the Chief Judge was “seen in front of the court premises waving and dancing in support of the incumbent presidential parade.”

“Several members of the bar saw you wearing APRC apparel on the court premises. You were distributing APRC apparel to the court staff and making preparations for the victory celebration of the incumbent president,” the lawyers wrote.

The GBA further accused Mr. Fagbenle of several misconducts throughout his tenure.

“You interfered with judicial officials who were presiding over cases and caused them to be dismissed when they made decisions which were deemed to be against the state’s interest,” they claimed.

“Emmanuel Fagbenle is clearly unfit to for the constitutional role of Chief of Justice and there is no doubt he will take steps to attempt to extend the illegal regime of Jammeh,” the association stated.

Mr. Fagbenle could not be reached for comments.

The lawyers’ association claimed that the recent announcement that six judges, five from Nigeria and one from Sierra Leon, have been appointed to the Gambia’s Supreme Court, is fraught with suspicion. The association of lawyers claimed that Mr. Fagbenle did not disclose their appointment until Mr. Jammeh’s challenge of the election was filed in court.

The six judges are: Habeeb A. O Abiru, a justice at the Court of Appeal in Jos, Akomaye Agim, a former Chief Justice of the Gambia and presently assigned to the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal, Abubakar Datti Yahaya, also of the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal, Abubakar Tijani, a former Chief Judge of Jigawa State and presently attached to the Lagos division of the Court of Appeal, and Obande Festus Ogbuinya of the Abuja Division of the Appeal Court.

The sixth judge, Nicholas Colin Brown, is a Sierra Leonean.

When contacted for comments, Acting Director of Information of the National Judicial Council (NJC), Soji Oye, told PREMIUM TIMES he was on leave and could not speak on the matter.

However, a source within the NJC, who asked not to be named because he had no permission to speak on the matter, said he was aware The Gambian judiciary had requested Nigerian judges to be appointed to its Supreme Court long before the election crisis ensued.

The source further explained that Nigerian judges sent to other countries were expected to act professionally and not to abuse their privileges. He said any judge on assignment outside the country who is proven to have acted unprofessionally will be severely sanctioned by the NJC.

“We normally send judges to other countries, not only The Gambia on their request. They normally send their request through the NJC, and the NJC will screen judges before sending to them,” the source said.

“The request usually go to the chairman of the NJC, the CJN (Chief Justice of Nigeria) and the chairman will now decide on which judges to send.

“They (The Gambian judiciary) have written before this crisis for the appointment of Nigerian justices. It is only judges of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court that are normally sent there.

“If there is a petition against them that they are planning to make Jammeh overrule the election result, they have not implemented the plan yet. It is when they have implemented the plan that the NJC will step in. Any judge who is sent to another country knows the implication of misbehaving because they know they are coming back to the NJC so they cannot mess up because they know the implications,” the source explained.

“Mercenary Judges”

The Gambia Bar Association also alleged that at least, there are seven judges “handpicked” from Nigeria working as high court judges in the The Gambia who are being used by the Jammeh administration to perpetrate judicial fraud.

“These persons have never been judges or sat in a judicial capacity. They were imported and appointed and have demonstrated in several high profile judgement that they will not take any steps contrary to the will of the president,” the GBA stated.

They gave the names of the judges as: Agboola, Anyim N.C Ikoro, Uduma, E.E Ogar, E.O Dada, Sulaiman and E.O Otaba.

PREMIUM TIMES found that the named judges, whom Gambian media refer to as “mercenary judges”, are embroiled in several judicial controversies in the West African Country.

The judges were personally handpicked by Mr. Fagbenle and The Gambia Attorney General, Fatima Singhateh.

Our investigation shows that one of the judges is the founder of Liberation Chambers located at Suite 34, Abuja Shopping Mall Zone 3, Wuse, Abuja. The telephone number he provided was listed as incorrect.

In June 2016, senior Gambian lawyer, Antouman Gaye, and his legal team, who represented opposition lawyer, Ousainou Darboe, and others standing trial on a six-count, staged a walkout after Mrs. Dada, who was adjudicating the case, refused to stop soldiers who had forced their way into a private conversation between the lawyers and their clients.

According to local media reports, soldiers with guns had walked into a private room where lawyers were speaking to their clients, insisting that they will have to listen to the conversation. When Mrs. Dada was asked to order the army out of the room, she purportedly said: “I cannot prevent the army from listening in.”

Also, in July 2016, The Gambia opposition party, United Democratic Party (UDP), wrote a petition to the Nigerian government, accusing seven Nigerian “judges” and other members of the Nigerian technical Assistance of “judicial rascality”.

They particularly mentioned Hadi Saleh Barkum, a Nigerian, and Gambia’s director of public prosecution (DPP), whom they accused of cooking up trumped-up charges against members of The Gambian opposition.

Copied in the petition were the NJC, Senate Committee on Judiciary, House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary, House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“It was the expectation of the People of The Gambia that these personnel would import best practices and systems of justice and moral code from our Sister Republic, however to our dismay this has not happened. Instead they have become the preferred tool in the hands of the Executive which unscrupulously uses threats of imprisonment against members of the public in the firm assurance that same would be made good by Nigerian prosecutors and judges.

“Mr. Attorney General, our country can afford to hire its own prosecutors, our country has the budget and the manpower to man its own Ministry of Justice. The legitimate need for Technical Assistance no longer arises,” the petition reads.

“It is, therefore, a vital priority for the Government of Nigeria and all Bar Associations to condemn the actions and capacity of all judges of foreign nationality currently sitting in Gambia and call for their immediate repatriation to prevent them from undermining the will of the Gambian people,” the GBA also said in another similar statement.

Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, his media aide, Isah Salihu, and the director of information of the ministry did not answer calls made to their mobile phone. They also did not respond to text messages sent to them asking for steps the ministry has taken in respect of the petition.

A curious association

The GBA also slammed the African Bar Association (AFBA), a lawyers’ association whose members are mainly Nigerians for giving what it described as a “semblance of legitimacy” to annulment of the December 1, 2016 election by Mr. Jammeh.

“The AFBA was full of praises of Jammeh and critical of the local bar for taking a position in the matter,” the GBA stated.

The AFBA, which claimed to be mediating with the Gambian government and opposition in order to resolve the election logjam, had released a statement on its position on the The Gambian crisis which thanked Mr. Jammeh for “peacefully making his case”.

“AFBA believes that the President knows the constitution of Gambia and having run Gambia for 22 years will not want to create chaos and destroy his legacy of landmark development,” the statement reads.

It then proceeded to blame the GBA for not pointing out the unavailability of a Supreme Court justices to sit on Mr. Jammeh’s petition before the election.

The AFBA has since met Mr. Jammeh and country’s President-elect, Mr. Barrow, and has plans to return to the country in early January in what it described as on-going negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

But the GBA said that it was suspicious of the intentions of the AFBA. Though on its website, the AFBA listed the GBA as one of its national legal member associations, the GBA released a video statement denying it has any connection with the association.

“The Gambian Bar Association is not connected or associated to with Mr Hannibal Owaifo (the president of the AFBA) and his organization, the African Bar Association. The general public is hereby notified that this organization does not represent all or any association or bodies of African lawyers as the name suggests. The said African Bar Association is not connected or associated with Nigerian Bar Association, although its members are predominantly Nigeria. It also is not connected or associated with the Pan African Lawyers’ Union (PALU), The International Bar Association (IBA), or related entities.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), which was also listed as a national legal member of AFBA also denied being an affiliate of the association.

The NBA president, Abubakar Mahmoud, told PREMIUM TIMES that though he was aware that some of its members were also members of the AFBA, the NBA had no relationship with the association.

However, the AFBA says it is a legally registered association which derives recognition from its members and not from other individuals or associations.

“The African Bar Association does not need the approval or recognition of any individual no matter how highly placed or any law society,” Osa Director, special adviser, media and publicity, AFBA told PREMIUM TIMES during a telephone chat.

Governor Ibikunle Amosun swears in 3 new judges

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Three new judges were on Thursday sworn-in by Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State at a ceremony held at the Executive Council Chamber of the Governor’s Office at Oke Mosan in Abeokuta.

 

The News Agency Nigeria (NAN) reports that the newly appointed judges are John Olatokunbo, Abiodun Shobayo and Eniola Fabamwo.

 

Mr. Amosun urged the judges to uphold the principles of fairness and equity in the administration of justice in the state.

 

He added that they should see their appointments as a call to service, adding that the assignment was coming with greater dedication and commitment.

 

“I appreciate the serving judges in the state for distancing themselves from all forms of attitude that could bring the judiciary arm of the state to disrepute.

 

“Even in the face of overwhelming challenges confronting the arm and the nation at large, it is important to be more resolute in discharging justice to all persons without fear or favour,” Mr. Amosun said.

 

The new judges, who expressed gratitude to the governor for their appointments, gave an assurance that they would contribute their quota toward efficient administration of justice in the state.

EFCC Moves To Arraign 5 More Judges

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All is set for the trial of at least five more judges by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The commission has concluded investigation on the judges.

There were indications that cases being handled by the judges before their travails might be reassigned.

The details were being worked out by the Federal High Court and the National Industrial Court (NIC).

Also, it was learnt that the EFCC has seized the passport of a Commissioner of Police, Mr. Victor Onofiok who has been detained in connection with alleged N1.9billion fraud.

According to investigation, out of the six judges under probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), only Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia was arraigned last week.

The others awaiting conclusion of investigation and trial are Justices Mohammed Nasir Yunusa; Hyeladzira Ajiya Nganjiwa; Musa Haruna Kurya; Agbadu James Fishim; and Uwani Abba Aji.

A top source at the commission, who spoke in confidence last night, said: “We have concluded investigation on all the judges implicated in some bribery scandals. We are already preferring charges against them.

“Five of them will soon be arraigned in court. In fact, some of the lawyers who abetted such bribe offers had been interrogated too with evidence extracted from them. Two of the lawyers are presently on trial.”

Responding to a question, the source added: “Relevant desks are vetting the charges against these judges for filing.”

The EFCC had filed 27 charges against a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Rickey Tarfa for allegedly bribing two judges with N2,335,000.

The affected judges are Justice Mohammed Nasir Yunusa and Justice Nganjiwa Hyeladzira.

It has also listed eight witnesses against the embattled SAN. But another SAN, Dr. Joseph Nwobike is also in trouble for giving N1,050,000 bribe to the same judges.

All the charges were filed against the two SANs by an Assistant Detective Commander, Mr. G.O. Adebola before the Lagos State High Court. The SANs are presently on trial in Lagos. The latest lawyer on trial is Godwin Obla (SAN) who was arraigned last week with Justice Ajumogobia.

Findings however confirmed that the cases before the troubled judges will be reassigned to their colleagues in order to protect the interest of litigants.

It was learnt that the leadership of the Federal High Court and the National Industrial Court had been working on the details.

Another source said: “In line with the directive of the National Judicial Council, the judges have stayed away from sitting but they are still receiving salaries pending the outcome of their trial.

“The only challenge facing the leadership of the Federal High Court and the NIC is how to manage the cases these judges had been handling. There is no way litigants can wait till the trial of these judges is concluded before getting justice.

“We may reassign their cases to other judges. But some of these cases might start afresh especially those at the judgment stage.”

Meanwhile, the EFCC has seized the passport of the detained Commissioner of Police, Onofiok.

The suspect, who is the CP for Works Department at the Force Headquarters, was detained in connection with an ongoing investigation for alleged N1.9billion fraud.

A source in EFCC said: “The travelling passport of the CP has been seized. Detectives are also screening some accounts belonging to him and some of the slush companies linked to the CP.

“The companies include: Dutse Allah Construction Ventures; Nne-Edak Technical Ventures; Puristic Adherent Company; Quality Watch Construction Company and Faksene International.”

A police source said: “Some senior and junior police officers were not surprised about the arrest of the CP Works because he had been warned before against some of his conduct in office.

“We hope the EFCC will do a thorough job like the case with the ex-IGP Tafa Balogun.”

Why I approved DSS raids, arrest of judges – AGF

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The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has said he approved the raids on the homes and arrest of judges by the Department of State Services.

Malami said it was not the exclusive preserve of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate financial crimes.

Malami stated these in Abuja on Tuesday when he appeared before an ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives in the National Assembly.

The committee is chaired by Hon. Garba Dhatti.

It is investigating all cases of invasion of property and arrests of persons by the DSS from May 2015 till date.

Malami said there were reasonable grounds to justify the arrest of the judges looking at the number of petitions that had been received by his office, the DSS, the EFCC and other anti-graft agencies.

Citing Section 15 (5) of the 1999 Constitution, he stated that the State had a responsibility to halt all acts of corruption and could deploy any agency with the capacity to achieve that purpose.

He also said the state waded into the matter after the National Judicial Council was duly notified, but was not willing to act.
Malami said judges had no immunity against prosecution, adding that there was no requirement of law which stipulated that only the EFCC must investigate financial crimes.

He said: “When we are talking about constitutional obligations, it goes without saying that all state instruments, Ministries, Departments and Agencies are under obligation, inclusive of the legislature and the judiciary, to take steps that will abolish all corrupt practices.

“It is in respect of that obligation that whatever issues that arose from the search and arrest of the judicial officers were carried out.

“The State was in receipt of multiple petitions of corrupt practices by the judicial officers and there was further apprehension that if immediate steps were not taken, the possibility of destroying existing evidence that were believed to have been kept within their respective domains would eventually be tampered with.

“Arising from the responsibility created and established by Section 15 of the constitution, the State had to act.

“But, the question of which agency has the responsibility of executing it, my response to that derives from the fact that multiple petitions were written to the Office of the AGF, DSS, EFCC and a lot of other agencies of government.

“To my mind, I have a discretion to look at and weigh the situation and decide which agency against the background of the petition, who will act for the purpose of ensuring that the obligation of the provisions of Section 15 (5) of the constitution are carried out.

“So, whatever evolved from the search and arrest of the judicial officers revolved around the need to comply with the responsibility and obligation vested in them by provisions of the constitution and the need to ensure that the investigation was not in any way tampered with negatively.

“These were the circumstances that led to the operations. It was a clear exercise of the constitutional mandate in respect of what is expected of the State to abolish corrupt practices.

“When we got the petitions, I had cause personally to write to the NJC, requesting that they take administrative steps to investigate the allegations contained in the petitions.

“A response was made to my office that the NJC could not act unless the petitions were accompanied with affidavits.

“But I felt there were no reasons why the petitions could not be looked into on their own merit by placing sanctions on the AGF, while it was a constitutional obligation.

“Incidentally, multiple petitions were also written to the DSS and I requested that they equally write to the NJC to look into the petitions, but it was the same response the DSS got from the NJC that without a supporting affidavit the petitions could not be looked into.

“So, we have a situation where there is reasonable grounds for suspicion for commission of corruption and we have a body saddled with the primary administrative responsibility of looking at such things first, but it seems not to be cooperating in that respect.

“Meanwhile, when issue of commission of corruption practice is established, the executive has the responsibility of investigation without recourse to the judiciary.

“That is how the idea of taking the advantage of Section 15 (5) arose.

“I asked the EFCC and the DSS and another agency to investigate because they were in receipt of several petitions on the same subject and I was informed by the DSS before the search and arrest and I did not object.

“The DSS presented a formal report to me before and after effecting the search and arrest.

“They informed me that the operation will be done at any hour without restriction.

“I had no objection that the operation would be carried out at night because I have taken time to go through the administration of Criminal Justice Act and I was convinced that this operation can be conducted at any hour, any moment without restriction.

“I didn’t have to inform the Inspector-General of Police or Commissioner of Police in the State about the DSS operation because they were also under the same constitutional obligation to act.

“One of the agencies had investigated, came up with a report and I was convinced.”

Buhari, SSS acted right on raid, arrest of judges – Obasanjo

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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has backed the State Security Services’ invasion of the homes of some Nigerian judges last month, saying the action was necessary to cleanse the judiciary.

Delivering a speech at the First Akintola Williams annual lecture in Lagos Wednesday, Mr. Obasanjo saluted the executive branch’s “necessary wisdom and courage to clean the dirty stable of the Judiciary.”

“Three weeks before the first three judges were arrested for corruption, I was talking to a fairly senior retired public officer who put things this way, ‘The Judiciary is gone, the National Assembly is gone, the military is sunk and the civil service was gone before them; God save Nigeria.’ I said a loud Amen,” Mr. Obasanjo said in the speech titled ‘Nigeria Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Governance and Accountability.’

“Three weeks later, the process of saving the Judiciary began. And if what I have gathered is anything to go by, there may be not less than two score of judicial officers that may have questions to answer. That will be salutary for the Judiciary and for the Nation.”

An overnight assault, in early October, on some senior judges in six states across the country by the SSS resulted in the arrest of some of the judges.

Officials of the SSS told PREMIUM TIMES at the time that the operation was ordered after months of investigation, during which the secret police established credibly that the affected judges were involved in questionable financial dealings.

The crackdown on the senior members of the judiciary had generated heated debates across the country, with government critics accusing the executive arm of overstepping its powers.

But Mr. Obasanjo, who was president between 1999 and 2007, said the judiciary left the executive with no choice in the incident.

“While one would not feel unconcerned for the method used, one should also ask if there was an alternative,” the former president said.

“The National Judicial Council, NJC, would not do anything as it was all in-breeding. As now contained in our Constitution, the President of Nigeria cannot influence or make any appointment to the Judiciary at the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court level.

“He can only transmit the decision of the NJC to the Senate even where Senate confirmation is required.
The Constitution which was heavily influenced by the Judiciary ensured that. And yet a drastic disease requires a drastic treatment. When justice is only for sale and can only be purchased by the highest bidder, impunity and anarchy would be the order of the day and no one would be safe.”

Last Monday, Sylvester Ngwuta, one of the judges whose homes was raided by the SSS, was arraigned before a federal court in Abuja.

Mr. Ngwuta, a Supreme Court judge, pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of money laundering.

Mr. Obasanjo said a drastic action was needed to save the situation in the judiciary, adding that an alternative that would serve the same purpose would have been preferred if it was available.

“In the absence of that alternative, we must all thank God for giving the President the wisdom, courage and audacity for giving the security agencies the leeway to act,” he said.

“And where a mistake was made in the action taken, correction must take place with an apology, if necessary.”

The former president also lashed out at Nigerian lawyers, saying that there would be virtually no corrupt judge without being aided by a member of the bar.

“The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has the responsibility to clean up its own house and help with the cleaning of the Judiciary,” he said.

“It is heartening though that some members of the NBA have recently called for judicial reform. Such reform must be deep, comprehensive and entail constitutional amendments as appointment and disciplines of Judges are concerned.

“May God continue to imbue the Executive with the necessary wisdom and courage to clean the dirty stable of the Judiciary and the Bar for the progress and the image of our Nation.

“It must also be said that the good eggs within the Judiciary must be proud of themselves and we must not only be proud of them but also protect them and their integrity.”

Dogara vows to amend SSS law, condemns raid on ‘corrupt’ judges homes

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Speaker Yakubu Dogara on Wednesday said the invasion of the homes of senior judicial officers by the State Security Service was a disorganised and worrisome act.

The Speaker said the clampdown was a duplication of the function of other anti-corruption agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and promised sweeping reforms to prevent its recurrence.

Mr. Dogara made the observations when he inaugurated a House committee charged with investigating the clampdown and its aftermath.

“It is untidy, it seems, to have multiple agencies exercising similar functions. The EFCC already handles issues of corruption and economic crimes in Nigeria,” Mr. Dogara said. “Should the State Security Service also be charged with the same functions?”

 

dogara

 

Scores of SSS operatives swooped on the homes of judges in a coordinated raid across the country on October 7. The raid dragged until the next morning on October 8 before the news of the raid filtered to Nigerians.

Two judges of the Supreme Court, an appellate court judge and five high court judges were arrested in the operation.

The SSS also said it recovered a huge amount of money denominated in different currencies from the judicial officers’ homes and said it was the climax of a sting operation launched months before.

Some of the arrested judges are already being prosecuted for corruption while all of them have been granted bail.

 

President Muhammadu Buhari immediately came out to defend the action of the secret police and said he was fighting corrupt judges and not necessarily the judiciary.

The crackdown created a major fissure amongst Nigerians who immediately took sides on the matter.

While some saw the action of the SSS as needed to fight alleged corruption in the judiciary; others raised alarm that the president is trying to suppress the judiciary and instil fear on judges who might be poised to delivery unfavourable rulings against his administration.

Although Mr. Dogara did not immediately speak out at the time, the House deliberated on the matter during its plenary on October 11, which was the first sitting since the raids.

The deliberation was initiated via a motion of urgent national concern by Kingsley Ogundu, a lawmaker from Rivers State which was part of the affected states.

Mr. Ogundu’s prayer for the House to summon the Director-General of the SSS failed to gain traction amongst lawmakers, but they resolved to raise a committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding arrests.

At the inauguration of the committee today, Mr. Dogara hinted that the executive might have usurped the powers of the legislature.

 

Photo credit: Pulse.ng

“The activities of the State Security Service of late have raised concerns in the Nigerian polity as to the propriety of the conduct of officials of the service and whether their actions are consistent with the law setting it up,” Mr. Dogara read from a prepared speech.

“It is in this regard that I enjoin this Committee to make relevant findings of fact that will enable the National Assembly initiate the necessary amendments to the National Security Agencies Act —and even the Constitution where necessary— to ensure conformity with the constitutional design and framework that envisage that federal legislative power should be domiciled in the National Assembly and not shared with the executive in the manner provided under the Act.”

Mr. Dogara said the Buhari administration was exploiting a decree promulgated by the last military junta led by Abdulsalam Abubakar.

Mr. Abubakar, through an instrument in 1999, expanded the role of SSS to include other functions as dictated by the head of state.

But Mr. Dogara questioned the validity of instrument since the NSA Act is amongst the four extant laws under the Transitional Provisions an Savings component of the Constitution.

“The National Security Agencies Act is specifically protected by Section 315(5) of the Constitution as it cannot be altered like ordinary Acts of the National Assembly. It has the same alteration procedure like the Constitution as laid down in Section 9 (2) thereof,” Mr. Dogara said.

The Speaker said lawmakers serving in the committee will answer all questions that stemmed from the action of the SSS and recommend all necessary means of forestalling a recurrence— including a possible amendment to the Constitution.

Dogara Vows To Amend SSS Law, Condemns Raid On ‘Corrupt’ Judges Homes

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Speaker Yakubu Dogara on Wednesday said the invasion of the homes of senior judicial officers by the State Security Service was a disorganised and worrisome act.

The Speaker said the clampdown was a duplication of the function of other anti-corruption agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and promised sweeping reforms to prevent its recurrence.

Mr. Dogara made the observations when he inaugurated a House committee charged with investigating the clampdown and its aftermath.

“It is untidy, it seems, to have multiple agencies exercising similar functions. The EFCC already handles issues of corruption and economic crimes in Nigeria,” Mr. Dogara said. “Should the State Security Service also be charged with the same functions?”

Scores of SSS operatives swooped on the homes of judges in a coordinated raid across the country on October 7. The raid dragged until the next morning on October 8 before the news of the raid filtered to Nigerians.

Two judges of the Supreme Court, an appellate court judge and five high court judges were arrested in the operation.

The SSS also said it recovered a huge amount of money denominated in different currencies from the judicial officers’ homes and said it was the climax of a sting operation launched months before.

Some of the arrested judges are already being prosecuted for corruption while all of them have been granted bail.

Read More:

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/216101-dogara-vows-amend-sss-law-condemns-raid-corrupt-judges-homes.html

Corruption Trial Update: Justice Ngwuta gets N100m bail.

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Justice John Tsoho of an Abuja Federal High Court, on Monday granted a Supreme Court judge, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta bail in the sum of N100m.

 

Justice Ngwuta is one of the judges arrested by the Department of State Services, DSS, on October 8 over allegations of bribery and professional misconduct.

 

The judge was earlier arraigned before the Justice Tsoho-led court on a 16-count charges bordering on money laundering and professional misconduct.

 

Tsoho said the bail sum was based on self-recognisance of Ngwuta as a serving justice of the Supreme Court.

 

He gave the ruling after listening to the bail arguments by both lawyers of the accused and the Federal Government.

 

“I hold the offence is bailable. I hereby rule that the defendant be granted bail in the sum of N100m in self-recognisance,” Tsoho said.

 

Earlier, Federal Government’s counsel, Charles Adeogun-Philips had informed the court that the sum of N27m found in the bathroom of the accused judge was removed.

EFCC, DSS Slam Travel Ban On 15 Judges.

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Ahead of the ongoing probe and pending their arraignment, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Security Service (DSS) have restricted the movement of not less than 13 judges to the country.

The judges cannot travel abroad because they have been watch-listed until permitted by a court.

It was also learnt that security agents have started screening the Petty Cash Book of the Supreme Court and payment vouchers to contractors.

The Petty Cash Book which emanated from draw down from Secret/Operation Account was said to have revealed a lot on how about N2.2billion was spent on miscellaneous expenses.

The interim report indicated that the “discoveries were messy and least expected in such a scared place.”

About 15 judges are undergoing probe by the EFCC and the DSS.

Those under investigation are two Supreme Court judges-Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro; the former Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya; Justice Adeniyi Ademola (Federal High Court); the ex-Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice I. A. Umezulike; Justice Kabiru Auta of Kano State High Court; Justice Muazu Pindiga (Gombe State High Court); Justice Bashir Sukola and Justice Ladan Manir, from the Kaduna State High Court.

Justice Agbadu James Fishim (National Industrial Court);  Justice Uwani Abba Aji Justices Mohammed Nasir Yunusa, Hyeladzira Ajiya Nganjiwa;  Musa Haruna Kurya; and Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia (Federal High Court).

Out of the judges, the NJC has recommended sanctions for Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya; the erstwhile Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice I. A. Umezulike; and Justice Kabiru Auta.

Investigation by our correspondent revealed that all the judges have been watch-listed and their movement restricted to the country until investigation is concluded.

A reliable source, who spoke in confidence, said: “All the security agencies and the Nigerian Immigration Service have been notified that the affected judges are undergoing investigation. The implication is that they cannot go out of the country except permitted to do so.

“Actually, many of the judges have had their passports either seized or kept in custody of investigating agencies.

“The restriction is to make the ongoing investigation easier. As a matter of fact, some of them have been reporting intermittently or in some cases daily for questioning to either the EFCC or the DSS. It is not a punitive action but it is a way of facilitating investigation.

“For instance, we have had instances when detectives followed Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia to inspect some assets in Delta and Edo States. If she had been abroad, they won’t be able to do so.

“We are tracking many assets of some of these judges and this exercise requires verification and updated interrogation.

“But as soon as they are arraigned in court for trial, their bail will be at the discretion of the court.”

As at press time, it was gathered that some security agents were already screening the Petty Cash Book of the Supreme Court on how about N2.2billion, allegedly drawn from the court’s Secret/Operation Account, was spent on miscellaneous expenses.

Some vouchers of payment to some judges and contractors were still being screened by security agents.

Another source said: “The discoveries were messy and least expected in such a scared place. They actually border on non-compliance with Financial Regulations or gross abuse of the process.

“Some miscellaneous expenses and allowances were completely outside the approved rates by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) on remuneration for public and judicial officers.

“These details will soon be released to the public so that Nigerians can appreciate the rot and the weak system at the apex court.”

Meanwhile, about five firms have been implicated in the offering of bribes to some management staff of the Supreme Court.

According to a document obtained last night, the companies/ contractors include Willysdave Limited; Welcon Nigeria Limited; Dean Musa Nig. Limited; Ababia Ventures Limited and MBR Computers Limited.

“These companies have made useful statements on about N80.4million bribe sums so far detected. They are helping ongoing investigation.

“But the number of the companies could be more than the list at hand. We are still screening more vouchers, transfer details and procurement process. There are heaps of documents to go through. The documents we have got are sufficient for the trial of some judges and a few other accomplices.”

EFCC Files Corruption Charges Against Justice Ajumogobia And Senior Lawyer Obla

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has filed 30 charges against a Federal High Court judge, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia; and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Obla, The PUNCH has learnt.

The EFCC said about $793,800 passed through the judge’s domiciliary accounts between 2012 and 2015. The judge allegedly used the money to buy a house in London.

The two accounts, Access Bank (0002649223) and Diamond Bank (0032091183) have since been frozen by the EFCC.

The commission is expected to arraign the two suspects before a Lagos State High Court this week.

Five of the charges are centered on an alleged N5m bribe given to the judge by the senior advocate while the remaining 25 charges are on the huge amounts that passed through the accounts of Ofili-Ajumogobia and her alleged inability to explain her source of wealth.

The other charges filed against the judge border on forgery, lying, unlawful enrichment and other related offenses.

Ofili-Ajumogobia and Obla have been in the custody of the EFCC for about 10 days following revelations that the senior advocate paid N5m into her account in 2015 at a time she was presiding over one of his cases.

While Ofili-Ajumogobia claimed the money was a deposit for a N40m property she sold to Obla, the senior advocate said the money was a payment for building materials.

Obla also insisted that he did not know that the account belonged to the judge.

Some of the charges read in part, “That you, Hon. Justice Ngozi Ofili-Ajumogobia, and Godwin Obla (SAN), on or about May 21, 2015, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, conspired with each other to pervert the course of justice in charge number FHC/L/C/482C/10 with the sum of N5,000,000.

“That you, Godwin Obla (SAN), on or about May 21, 2015, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honorable court, intentionally gave the sum of N5,000,000 to Hon. Justice Rita Ngozi Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court directly from your Obla and Company account (1015319084) domiciled in the United Bank for Africa Plc in order that the said judge acts in the exercise of her official duties.”

Investigations by the EFCC further revealed that about $793,800 passed through the judge’s accounts and she allegedly was not able to explain to detectives how she came about the sums.

Breakdown of figures

A breakdown of the figures by the EFCC showed that Ofili-Ajumogobia received a deposit of $130,000 through her Diamond Bank account on May 30, 2013. On June 2, 2014, she allegedly received $70,000 through the same account.

The anti-graft agency said the judge received $55,000 on March 27, 2014, and another $55,000 on October 14, 2014 while $20,000 was received through the same account on June 19, 2014.

The commission alleged in the charge sheet that Ofili-Ajumogobia also received $20,000 on October 13, 2014 while she got an additional $50,000 on December 20, 2014.

The judge allegedly received $50,000 on November 21, 2014 and $30,000 between June 17 and June 19, 2015 through the same Diamond Bank account as well as another $10,000 on July 6, 2015.

She allegedly received $20,000 on June 11, 2013; $30,000 on February 11, 2014 and $150,000 on March 29, 2014.

The EFCC accused the judge of receiving $68, 800 through her Access Bank account between August 11, 2011 and March 27, 2012.

She also allegedly received $35,000 through the same account between April 30 and September 3, 2012.

The charges were said to be contrary to Section 82 (a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, No 11, 2011.

Some of the charges read, “That you, Hon. Justice Rita Ngozi Ofili-Ajumogobia, between the 11th day of August 2011 and 27th day of March 2012, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, being a judge of the Federal High Court, enriched yourself with a total sum of $68,000 through your account (0002649223) domiciled in Access Bank Plc, so as to have a significant increase in your assets that you cannot reasonably explain in relation to your lawful income.

“That you, Hon. Justice Rita Ngozi Ofili-Ajumogobia, between the 10th and 30th day of May 2013, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, being a judge of the Federal High Court, enriched yourself with a total sum of $130,000 through your account (0032091183) domiciled in Diamond Bank Plc, so as to have a significant increase in your assets that you cannot reasonably explain in relation to you your lawful income.

“That you, Hon. Justice Rita Ngozi Ofili-Ajumogobia, on or about the 20th day of December 2014, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, being a judge of the Federal High Court, enriched yourself with a total sum of $50,000 through your account (0032091183) domiciled in Diamond Bank Plc, so as to have a significant increase in your assets that you cannot reasonably explain in relation to you your lawful income.”

The judge allegedly received over N40m in mysterious deposits made by some companies.

Judge accused of lying

The EFCC also accused the judge of telling lies.

Specifically, Ofili-Ajumogobia had told detectives around 7.16pm on October 19, 2016 that she would not be able to honor an invitation because she was admitted to Golden Cross Hospital, Bourdillon, Ikoyi.

However, the judge was not there when detectives checked the hospital.

She was also accused of forging a deed of assignment between County City Bricks Development Company Limited and Niger & Colive Limited in 2010.

UN’s ex-prosecutor to lead Justice Ngwuta’s trial today

A former prosecutor at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Mr. Segun Jegede, has been engaged by the Federal Government to handle the trial of a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, who is to be arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja today (Monday).

Jegede and another international lawyer, Mr. Charles Adeogun-Philips, have been engaged by the Federal Government to prosecute all the judges it lined up for trial.

The two lawyers with decades of international practice are separately leading two teams that have been briefed by the Federal Government through its National Prosecution Coordination Committee.

While Jegede is leading the prosecution of Justice Ngwuta, Adeogun-Philips has been briefed to lead the prosecution of some Supreme Court officials who had been charged with diversion of N2.2bn belonging to the apex court.

The two lawyers are both on the team of 80 special prosecutors of the Federal Government whose activities are being coordinated by the NPCC.

Jegede reportedly worked at the UNICTR for over a decade.

Jegede’s work at the UNICTR mainly revolved around the investigation and prosecution of some of the known masterminds of crimes committed during the Rwandan genocide.

According to online search engine, Wikipedia, the Rwandan genocide, which lasted about 100 days in 1994, was a mass slaughter of the members of the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda by the members of the Hutu majority government.

Jegede was also said to have had a stint at the Federal Ministry of Justice as a state counsel before going into legal practice and establishing his own law firm in 1988

Adeogun-Philips, who was born in England 50 years ago, is a former genocide and war crime prosecutor at the International Criminal Court.

Already, three cases have been filed with respect to the charges of corruption preferred against some judges and court officials, following the raid on the houses of some judges by the operatives of the Department of State Services between October 7 and 8, 2016.

The first case involved a Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Ngwuta, who was charged with 14 counts of money laundering before Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Another case involved a Federal High Court judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, who was charged with receiving gratifications, along with his wife.

The other one involved the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Mr. Ahmed Saleh, who was charged along with two other officials of the apex court.

The three apex court’s officials were jointly charged with alleged diversion of N2.2bn belonging to the court and receiving  gratifications from contractors providing services to the court.

Also to be later charged is another Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Inyang Okoro.

Justice Ngwuta, who was charged with 14 counts of money laundering, has been scheduled to appear before Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, for arraignment today.

It was alleged in the 14 counts of money laundering that Ngwuta transferred the total sum of N505m “denominated in naira and US dollars” to a building contractor, Nwamba Linus Chukwuebuka, between January and May 2016.

The N505m was alleged to be part of proceeds of Ngwuta’s “unlawful” activities.

He was also accused in the amended charges of retaining N35,358,000; $319,596 and £25,915 during the raid on his house by the operatives of the Department of State Services between October 7 and 8.

Apart from the money laundering charges, Ngwuta was accused of passport offences in counts eight to 14 of the amended charges.

He was accused of being in possession of two valid diplomatic passports and another two valid Nigerian passports, when his house was raided by DSS operatives on October 8, 2016.

Judge’s Absence stalls Trial of Lagos lawyer Adegboruwa

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The scheduled continuation of trial of a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, before a Federal High Court in Lagos was stalled on Thursday as the presiding judge, Justice Oluremi Oguntoyinbo, did not sit.

The case was consequently adjourned till January 30, 2017.

Adegboruwa is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for allegedly dealing in a landed property in defiance of a court order.

The EFCC arraigned him on May 13, 2016 on one count alongside one Jonathan Udeagbala, said to be at large.

The anti-graft agency, in the charge, marked FHC/L/181c/2016, claimed that Adegboruwa and Udeagbala dealt in a property “lying, being and situate at House 105, Nicon Estate, Lekki, Lagos,” without the authorisation of the EFCC.

The prosecution said property was a subject of litigation before Justice C. A. Balogun of the Lagos State High Court.

The EFCC claimed that on August 13, 2013, Adegboruwa and Udeagbala leased the property in defiance of an order of interim injunction made by Justice Balogun on June 18, 2012, concerning the property.

The defendants were accused of leasing the property to one Shelf Drilling Nigeria Limited in the sum of N61,631,944.65, which the EFCC claimed was credited to Adegboruwa’s account with Zenith Bank.

The prosecutor claimed that Adegboruwa and Udeagbala committed an offence punishable under Section 32(1) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004.

But Adegboruwa pleaded not guilty, following which Justice Oguntoyinbo admitted him to a N10m bail with two sureties in like sum.

The sureties, the judge said, must be landed property owners in Lagos, whose bank account details and office and residential addresses must be verified by the court’s registrar.

Meanwhile, a Lagos State High Court in Igbosere, presided over by Justice Aishat Opesanwo, has reportedly recently vacated the interim order of Justice C.A. Balogun, which the EFCC alleged that Adegboruwa defied.

NBA and the trial of judges – Nwaozor

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It’s indeed interesting to realize that after all the grandstanding made by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) alongside its allies, following the recent clampdown on some judges by the Department of State Service (DSS), it has thought it wise to present reality.

Speaking a few weeks ago during the valedictory court session in honour of Justice Sotonye Denton-West of the Akure Division of the Court of Appeal, the association’s President Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) noted that in safeguarding the sanctity of the judiciary, it has become necessary for the arrested judges to excuse themselves from further judicial functions.

He equally suggested that these judges could proceed on compulsory leave until their innocence is fully established. The NBA boss went further to state that the bar has set up a task force after its meeting with the Attorney General of the Federation as well as past and serving leaders of the association, to review the recent developments and come up with specific recommendations on how best to clean up the nation’s judiciary and rebuild the confidence of the citizenry. He assured that the report would be available in two weeks time, having called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to suspend the judges if they fail to comply with the directive.

It’s noteworthy that four of the judges arrested between October 7 and 8, 2016 are still serving while the other three had been recommended for compulsory retirement and dismissal by the NJC prior to the clampdown. Suffice it to say that the NBA boss was actually referring to the four.

I was not surprised regarding the abrupt U-turn made by the NBA. I knew they would surely agree with the content of the constitution. The drama earlier was what is known as ‘self defence’. Self-defence is a legal measure required by one to save himself when his life is in danger, or when someone else is making physical attempt to claim it. If one commits murder while employing self-defence, the law is liable to forgive him for such crime committed if proven beyond doubts that his actions weren’t informed by any criminal intension.

So, the NBA, alongside the NJC were trying to safeguard the integrity of the judiciary that was ostensibly under ‘attack’ as was staged by the DSS. The Judges were taken unawares and they were of the view that their lives were in danger. As a result, they decided to employ self-defence tactics. Remember, the Judges hadn’t experienced such before. Hence, making such a U-turn was something I saw coming. I wasn’t taken unawares, that’s why I only smiled the moment I got the news on my desk. I am sure the NJC has also jettisoned its sword, even though the Chairman has disclosed that none of the indicted judges would be suspended.

Now, one is deeply perturbed. Some of the arrested justices, such as Justices John Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta, have alleged that the serving ministers tried to bribe them over a few of the court cases they handled recently. They made the shocking allegations via separate epistles they sent to the NJC. Should we fold our arms and allow such striking accusations to be buried? Something must be done. Doing otherwise will perhaps be the biggest mistake to be made by the relevant law enforcement agencies. Thus, investigations in that regard ought to commence without much ado. This is when the Federal Government needs to practically prove to the people that it is not biased.

One is baffled at the way and manner most of these anti-graft agencies have handled cases in recent times. Sometimes, we would observe that investigation commences after an accused person had been arrested; this is absurd and totally unconstitutional. Arrest is meant to be preceded by investigation, and not otherwise. An arrest marks the end of any ongoing investigation in respect of the case in question. As soon as an allegation or petition is tendered, investigation commences, then followed by an arrest. An arrest is constitutionally succeeded by arraignment; meaning literally that the moment an indicted person is arrested, you are expected to file a suit against him/her in relevant court of competent jurisdiction.

My other concern is the duration of court proceedings in Nigeria. Some prosecutions linger for many years. The legislature really needs to address this lapse if we must get it right. Let’s amend the constitution and other relevant Acts by creating a stipulated duration a certain prosecution is supposed to last. Civil, criminal, and electoral cases ought to have a particular period of time they are meant to last in any court of law they are being entertained, irrespective of its jurisdiction.

However, now that some judges have been charged, and they are required to be tried by a law court soon, the question is: who is going to try them? It’s obvious that they would be prosecuted and perhaps be convicted, if found guilty, by their colleagues. So, what’s the guarantee that the proposed prosecution, would be done dispassionately by these judicial officers?

– Nwaozor writes from Owerri

LEDAP sues SSS, AGF for arresting judges, seeks injunction to stop arraignment.

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Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) has asked the Federal High Court, Abuja, to declare as unlawful the raid and arrest of judges by the Department State Services (DSS).

The group also prayed for an order of injunction stopping the planned charge and arraignment in court of some of the arrested judges.
LEDAP claimed in the suit that the judges cannot be charged and arraigned in court without the authorization of the National Judicial Council (NJC).

Respondents in the suit are the SSS and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice (AGF).

In a motion on notice for interlocutory injunction filed at the Federal High Court Abuja yesterday, LEDAP seeks for “an order restraining the defendants/respondents (DSS and AGF) from filing any charge in court or arraigning before any court or arresting and/or detaining, inviting for questioning or searching the office or residence of any of the judicial officers listed in the schedule hereunder or any other judicial officer in Nigeria unless with the authorization and referral of the NJC, pending the hearing and determination of the originating summons filed in this suit.”

In the originating summons also filed along with the motion for injunction, the court is asked to make a declaration that the statutory functions of the 1st defendant (SSS) is the prevention and detection of crime against the internal security of Nigeria, and the protection and preservation of non-military classified matters concerning internal security of Nigeria.

They also want the court to declare that the 1st defendant is not authorized under its enabling law, namely, the National Security Agencies Act or any other law in force to engage in the investigation and prosecution of corruption, economic, or financial crimes in any form or manner, or in the investigation and prosecution of any crime whatsoever against any criminal suspect in Nigeria.

“A declaration that the statutory functions of the 1st defendant is to collect intelligence information on crimes against internal security and non-military classified matters concerning internal security of Nigeria and to pass such information to the appropriate agency authorized by law to investigate and prosecute such crimes, namely, the Nigerian Police Force created under the Police Act, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission created under the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act, the Independent anti-Corruption and related Practices Commission created under the Independent anti-Corruption and related Practices Commission Act, the National Agency on the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons created under the National Agency on the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons Act.”

“The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency created under the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act; and in matters concerning serving judicial officers of any of the courts mentioned in section 6(5) of the 1999 Constitution, to the National Judicial Council established under section 153(1)(i) of the 1999 Constitution and authorized under section 158 (1) and paragraphs 20 and 21 of Part 1 Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution to exclusively deal with matters relating to judicial officers,” they prayed, urging the court o declare the raid on residences of judicial officers as ultra vires and unlawful.

Apart from asking for an award of N1m for each of the judicial officers, LEDAP is praying for an order prohibiting SSS from prosecuting the accused judicial officers. No date has been fixed by the court.

I have Other Important Things to Do – CCT Judge as he Adjourns Saraki’s Trial To Jan

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Danladi Umar, chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), on Tuesday adjourned the trial Senate President Bukola Saraki to January 11.

Announcing the adjournment after sitting for only 30 minutes, Umar said he had “other important thing to attend to”.

Before his announcement, Umar allowed Paul Usoro, Saraki’s counsel, to finish cross-examining Michael Wetkas, a detective of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and prosecution witness.

Usoro cross-examined Wetkas on count 16 of the charge of false declaration of assets brought against Saraki by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

While being cross-examined on the charge, Wetkas admitted that he did? not speak with the Kwara state government or interrogate Saraki on the allegation.

?Usoro: Did you speak with Kwara state government or officials as regard this allegation.

Wetkas: No, didn’t speak with them.

Usoro: Throughout the investigation you didn’t speak with defendant?

Wetkas: Yes, that is correct.

Usoro: So, in respect of this charge you didn’t have any input from him?

Wetkas: No,  I did not.

?Usoro cross-examined the witness for about three months.

The charge read in part: “That you Saraki while being senator did receive monthly salary as governor of Kwara state.”

Chief Justice Mohammed: “Why we asked accused judges to step down”

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Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Mahmud Mohammed yesterday explained why the National Judicial Council (NJC) directed judges under probe for criminal allegations to stop sitting pending when their innocence is established.

The CJN, who is the Chairman of the NJC, explained that the council’s decision was informed by the insistence of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN), on prosecuting the judges arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS).

He said the Judiciary, being a responsible arm of the government, chose not to interfere with the AGF’s exercise of his statutory powers to prosecute.

Justice Mohammed, who will retire on Thursday, spoke in Abuja yesterday while swearing in Amina Augie and Ejembi Eko as Justices of the Supreme Court.

He said the Judiciary was mindful of the powers ascribed to each organ of the state under a constitutional democracy. He said the Judiciary was resolute in upholding its independence by adjudicating with utmost fairness and justice as prescribed by the Constitution and the law.

Said the CJ: “A common thread that runs through all Judiciaries is that judicial officers are traditionally accorded the highest dignity and respect by all. This is because justice is rooted in confidence and where confidence in our judges is undermined and independence eroded, it is the nation that ultimately suffers most while true democracy is fatally undermined.

“Certainly, the decision of the National Judicial Council at its last meeting reflects our desire to preserve this independence. Hence, we proclaimed to the world that any judicial officer that is standing trial will cease to perform judicial functions.

“The council took this stand following communications it received from the Hon. Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice that he was embarking on the prosecution of the affected judicial officers for the offences disclosed against them from the evidence on the ground.

“We must not forget that we operate a constitutional democracy, which clearly prescribes the powers accorded to each organ of the state.

“I therefore wish to state without fear of contradiction that the third arm of government will remain resolute in its commitment and resolve to uphold its independence and to adjudicate with utmost fairness and justice as prescribed in our Constitution and law.”

Justice Mohammed, who noted that Justice Augie and Justice Eko were joining the Supreme Court bench “at a time when there are a lot of challenges”, said he trusted their capacity to cope.

The CJN urged the new Justices to, more than ever before, “firm, honest and steadfast in the discharge of your duties, while striving to emulate the greats of this court by enthroning the rule of law and respect for our courts.

“I charge you to continue to be diligent in the discharge of your duties. You must remain blind to personality and status and remain the hope of all men, whether common or uncommon.

“Hence, the integrity and impartiality of our court must not be in question or compromised. I am confident that, with the institutions and initiatives that we have put in place, the Nigerian Judiciary will evolve to meet the high standards demanded by our citizens,” the CJN said.

Judges under probe will be prosecuted, AGF tells NJC.

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Outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, said on Monday that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, had informed the National Judicial Council that he was set to prosecute some judges who were being investigated for alleged corruption.

The CJN, who leaves office on attaining the retirement age of 70 on Thursday, said the communication received from the AGF informed the decision of the NJC to ask the affected judges not to perform judicial functions until the cases against them were concluded.

He spoke at the Supreme Court, Abuja during the swearing in ceremony of Justices Amina Augie and Ejembi Eko to the apex court bench.

He said the decision reached at the NJC meeting held between November 2 and 3, asking the affected judges not to sit again, was to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the confidence of the public in the system.

“…Justice is rooted in confidence and where confidence in our judges is undermined and independence eroded, it is the nation that ultimately suffers most while true democracy is fatally undermined.

“Certainly, the decision of the National Judicial Council at its last meeting reflects our desire to preserve this independence.

“Hence, we proclaimed to the world that any judicial officer that is standing trial will cease to perform judicial functions.

“The council took this stand following communications it received from the Hon. Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice that he was embarking on the prosecution of the affected judicial officers for the offences disclosed against them from the evidence on the ground.”

The CJN, however, said that despite that, the judiciary remained resolute to upholding its independence and adjudicate with fairness and justice.

He said, “We must not forget that we operate a constitutional democracy which clearly prescribes the powers accorded to each organ of the state.

“I therefore wish to state without fear of contradiction that the third arm of government will remain resolute in its commitment and resolve to uphold its independence and to adjudicate with utmost fairness and justice prescribed in our constitution and the law.”

He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the recommendations of the new Justices of the apex court by the NJC promptly and also the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, as well as the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, for prompt confirmation of the candidates.

The CJN, who reminded the new Justices of the Supreme Court that they were joining the apex “at a time when there are a lot of challenges,” however expressed confidence that having “scaled constitutional and institutional requirements, you are no doubt ready to face these challenges head on.”

The CJN, who earlier administered the oaths of office and allegiance to the new Justices of the apex court, urged them “to be faithful to those oaths as they are testament of your fidelity to God, the law and the good people of Nigeria.”

The CJN added, “They are also public pronouncements of your honest commitment to the Almighty to continue to dispense justice without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.

“Now more than ever, it is important to be firm, honest and steadfast in the discharge of your duties, while striving to emulate the greats of this court by enthroning the rule of law and respect for our courts.”

Wike: Judges have lost their voice and politicians are happy

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Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers state, has expressed dissatisfaction with the decision of the National Judicial Council (NJC) to suspend judges accused of corruption.

Speaking on Friday when the executive members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Port Harcourt branch, paid him a courtesy visit, WIke said the action of the council will encourage politicians to write frivolous petitions against judges.

“This move to ask judges to step aside is in favour of politicians because no judge will and deliver judgment against government or a ruling party,” he said.

“The implication is that politicians can now write as many petitions, alleging that they saw a judge taking brown envelope – which will warrant the judge to be asked to step aside.

“For us, politicians, we are happy with this development because if I notice that I will lose a case, then I will tell my lawyer to write a petition which will result to the judge stepping aside.

“So, in other not to be alleged to have done anything wrong, judges will not give judgment against government or the ruling party.

“This is because, if judge deliver judgment against government or the ruling party, then agencies of government will come after them.”

Wike said the development portend grave danger to the judiciary arm of government and to the common man.

He said the move was a clear manipulation and attempt to silence the opposition, especially as the nation was heading toward 2019 general election.

He said a good example of manipulations was the quick compliance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to announce federal and state legislative rerun elections shortly after the national assembly compelled the umpire to do so.

“Simply because the senate said it must conduct election within five weeks; the next day, INEC came up with a time table for the election,” he said.

“This is the same INEC that cited insecurity as reason why it could not conduct elections in Rivers, and now within one day after senate’s position, the same INEC released a time table.

“The question is when did INEC meet security agencies to now take a position that there is no longer security problem in Rivers state.

“All these boil down to manipulations which not only endanger our democracy but threatens us as a people.”

Wike accused some lawyers and judicial workers in the state of having a penchant for tax evasion, explaining that the development had affected government revenue portfolio.

He advised the legal practitioners to lead by example to enable government to carry out its developmental functions.

FG Charges Supreme Court Registrar, Others with Diversion of N2.2bn

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The Federal Government on Thursday charged the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Mr. Ahmed Saleh, and two other employees of the apex court with nine counts, including diversion of N2.2bn belonging to the court.

Saleh is among those shortlisted for final consideration by the National Judicial Council to succeed the outgoing Secretary of the council, Mr. Danladi Halilu.

Saleh, alongside Muhammed Sharif and Rilwanu Lawal, are also accused of receiving gratifications totalling N74.4m from private contractors providing services to the Supreme Court between 2009 and 2016.

When the date of their arraignment is fixed, the accused persons will be facing nine counts of conspiracy, criminal breach of trust by allegedly diverting N2.2bn belonging to the apex court and receiving gratification as public officers.

The office of the Attorney General of the Federation filed the charges marked FCT/HC/CR/13/2016 before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama on Thursday.

The allegations leading to the filing of the charges on Thursday is believed to have been unearthed by the recent raid by the operatives of the Department of State Services on the homes of some judges, including two of them belonging to the Supreme Court bench, and some offices at the apex court complex.

Our correspondent also learnt that following the Thursday’s development, the Federal Government will soon approach the court to file charges against some of the arrested judges.

The Supreme Court employees allegedly diverted the sum of N2.2bn belonging to the apex court and received the N74.4m gratification between 2009 and 2016.

The contractors from whom they allegedly received the gratification are Willysdave Ltd., Welcon Nig. Ltd., Dean Musa Nig. Ltd., Ababia Ventures Ltd. and MBR Computers Ltd.

The three Supreme Court employees named in the first charge are accused of conspiracy criminal breach of trust contrary to section 315 of the Penal Code Act and punishable under the same section, by diverting the sum of N2.2bn belonging to the Supreme Court.

The accused persons allegedly deposited same into personal account 2027642863 domiciled in United Bank for Africa Plc.

They allegedly conspired among themselves contrary to Section 96 of the Penal Code Act 2004 and punishable under Section 97 of the same Act to commit the illegal act of diverting the N2.2bn belonging to the apex court.

The prosecution alleged in counts three to nine that the accused, between 2009 and 2016, received gratification of N10m from Willysdave Ltd., N8m (in two tranches of N6m and N2.4m) from Welcon Nig. Ltd., N2.4m; N16m from Dean Musa Nig. Ltd.; N19m from Ababia Ventures Ltd. and N21m from MBR Computers.

The offences of taking gratification by public officers are said to be contrary to Section 10 (a) (i) of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission Act 2000.

They are said to be punishable under the same section of the Act.

BREAKING: NJC suspends 7 senior judges accused of corruption.

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The National Judicial Council, NJC, has suspended seven senior judges arrested in October by the State Security Service for alleged corruption.

The NJC had initially refused to suspend the judges despite public pressure, saying the allegations against them had not been substantiated.

It however said the judges had voluntarily stepped down from court sittings.

The latest decision came after the council’s 7th meeting between Wednesday and Thursday.

A communique issued at the end of the meeting, and signed by NJC’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, said the decision was taken to avoid allowing persons under investigation to to partake in presiding over judicial matters at the same time.

“Council also decided that Judicial Officers shall not be standing trial for alleged corruption related offences and be performing judicial functions at the same time,” the communique said. “Council however decided that it will ensure that Judicial Officers who are being investigated for alleged high profile criminal offences do not perform judicial functions until their cases are concluded.”

The judges were arrested on October 7.

DSS stops daily invitation of arrested judges.

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The Department of State Security (DSS) has asked the seven judges it arrested between October 7 and 8 for alleged corruption to stop reporting daily until further notice, Punch reports.

 

According to inside sources, the judges were asked to report to the agency’s Abuja office daily as part of their bail conditions.

 

One of the judges revealed that the DSS on Tuesday ask the judges to stop reporting until further notice.

The judge said, “We have been reporting at their office everyday since they granted us bail on October 9. They told us to stop coming to their offices till further notice.

 

“They said they would call us whenever they needed our attention.”

We Can’t Hand Over Arrested Judges To EFCC – NJC

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The National Judicial Council has said it is not part of its statutory responsibilities to hand over judges who are accused of corruption to anti-graft agencies for investigation and prosecution.

The NJC also clarified that it could not recover proceeds of corruption and had no power to dismiss erring judges.

The NJC said this in a letter dated October 26, 2016, which it addressed to a human rights organisation, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project.

The letter was the response of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, who is the head of the NJC, to SERAP, which had requested that the NJC should forthwith hand over the seven judges recently arrested for alleged corruption to anti-graft agencies.

SERAP, in a statement on Tuesday, said the letter with reference number, CJN/Gen/MISC/A37/Vol.XXI/8, was signed on behalf of the CJN by his Senior Special Assistant, H. S. Sa’eed.

According to SERAP, the NJC said its duty stopped at making recommendations to the executive after looking into petitions against judges.

It stressed that it could not take responsibility for the failure of the President and governors to implement the NJC’s recommendations.

The CJN said, “It is necessary to restate that the NJC is a creation of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) being established under Section 153 with its mandate clearly set out in Paragraph 21, Part One of the Third Schedule to the Constitution.

“This provision clearly stipulates at Paragraph 21(b) and (d) that the council may only ‘recommend’ to the President and the governors, the removal from office of judicial officers and to exercise disciplinary control over such judicial officers, which, in effect, is the extent of its power to discipline. Hence, the council cannot, suo moto, dismiss any judicial officer.

“The NJC can also neither ‘hand over’ corrupt judges to law enforcement agencies for prosecution nor recover proceeds of corruption, as you have suggested. It can merely recommend to act upon its findings, as it has always done.”

The NJC, however, restated his commitment to purging the judiciary of rot with the support of citizens by treating all petitions against judges appropriately.

It stated that to this end, it had enacted the Judicial Discipline Regulations, 2014.

The letter read partly, “However, in exercise of its constitutional mandate, the NJC has enacted the Judicial Discipline Regulations, 2014 in order to ensure that petitions are received, investigated and addressed as appropriate.

“As SERAP’s own report attests, 64 judicial officers have been disciplined within five years even preceding the institution of the new guidelines. Any failure on the part of the executive arm of government to act upon such recommendations cannot therefore be blamed upon the NJC.

“With due consideration to the contents of your letter, I am directed to acknowledge and address the concerns which SERAP have raised, which may reflect the wider opinion held by some Nigerians.

“While his Lordship, without doubt, appreciates SERAP’s concern for the incidence of corruption in the judiciary, it is indeed erroneous to conclude that the NJC has ‘felt satisfied with applying only civil sanctions and has not deemed it fit to hand over corrupt judges to law enforcement agencies for prosecution nor recover proceeds of corruption,’ as insinuated in your letter under reference.

“To be sure, every citizen of Nigeria, inclusive of judicial officers, are entitled to the protection of the law and a key provision of the constitution is the presumption of innocence, as enshrined in Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

“I must also remind us that the seven judges, like all other persons, are entitled to a fair hearing as stipulated in Section 36 of the Constitution. As such, it would be presumptive and indeed preemptive to sanction the said judges without exhausting the proper procedure for their removal.”

The CJN expressed delight over SERAP’s concern and dedication to the course of justice, fairness and justness.

Justice Mohammed said with the support of all well-meaning Nigerians “giant strides will be made towards reaching the goal of a transparent, fair and equitable system of justice.”

EFCC Uncovers N18 Million in Female Judge’s Foreign Account

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has uncovered a bogus financial transaction of N18 million in the foreign account of Justice Rita Ngozi Ofili-Ajumogobia.

It was learnt that the commission “stumbled on the N18 million wired into the foreign account from her domiciliary account for the purchase of a property in the United Kingdom (UK).

The judge was said to be under investigation for owning a foreign account and how the cash remittance came about.

A source in EFCC said: “Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia owned up to the money, but claimed it was a loan obtained privately from a family friend.

“The ‘family friend’, who is a chairman of an oil and gas firm from where the funds emanated, has been invited by the commission for questioning.

“So far, he had told operatives that the money was an assistance he rendered to her.

“Inquiry into the loan facility as claimed by both of them showed no formal agreement or documentation as to how and when the repayment would be made.

“However, the oil and gas company chairman is at present telling the commission the extent of his relationship and involvement with the funds, which was wired into the judge’s personal account sometime in 2012 while she was a sitting judge of the Federal High Court.”

Justice Ofili-Ajumogbobia is among the six judges being investigated by the commission for alleged corruption alongside some senior lawyers.

The other five judges include Justice Nasiru Mohammed Yunusa, Justice Hydlezira A. Nganjiwa, Justice Uwani Abba Aji, Justice Agbadu Jamus Fishim and Justice Musa H. Kuriya.

The National Judicial Council (NJC) had in February sanctioned Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia for misconduct on the bench.

The council barred her from elevation to the Court of Appeal or taking any judicial appointment.

A statement by NJC Acting Director of Information Mr. Soji Oye said: “The NJC, under the chairmanship of Justice Mahmud Mohammed, at its meeting on February 24 and 25, 2016 decided to warn Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia and put her on the “watch-list” of the council for the next four years.

“The judge will also not be considered for any elevation to the Court of Appeal or any ad hoc judicial appointment till her retirement from the Bench.

“The decision was sequel to the petition written against her by Victoria Ayeni, alleging misconduct and injustice on the part of Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia for failing to deliver judgment in Suit No FHC/AB/CS/31/2011, a pre-election matter between Victoria A. A. Ayeni and Olusola Sonuga and two Ors.

“She was also alleged to have adjourned the pre-election matter several times until the termination of the lifespan of the Ogun State House of Assembly. The decision of the Council on Justice

Seven accused judges are entitled to fair hearing – CJN

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The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mahmud Mohammed, has said that the seven judges, like all other persons, are entitled to a fair hearing as stipulated in Section 36 of the constitution.

The CJN was quoted as stating this in a letter which was sent to Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by Mr Timothy Adewale, SERAP Senior Staff Attorney.

The letter, dated Oct. 26, 2016, was signed by H. S. Sa’eed, Senior Special Assistant to the CJN.

Mohammed’s remark was in response to SERAP’s request that he as Chairman of the NJC, should take over the cases of the seven judges from the Department of State Service (DSS).

The CJN stated that there were clear constitutional provisions relating to the power of any individual, institution or arms of government which must be adhered to.

He said that the NJC could neither handover corrupt judges to law enforcement agencies for prosecution nor recover proceeds of corruption.

He also explained that the NJC could merely make actionable recommendations upon its findings as it had always done.

Mohammed said that in the exercise of its constitutional mandate, the NJC had enacted the Judicial Discipline Regulations, 2014.

This, he said, was to ensure that petitions are received, investigated and addressed as appropriate.

According to SERAP’s report, 64 judicial officers have been disciplined in the last five years.

The CJN maintained that “the seven Judges, like all other persons, are entitled to a fair hearing as stipulated in Section 36 of the constitution.

“As such, it will be presumptive and indeed pre-emptive to sanction the said judges without exhausting the proper procedure for their removal,” Mohammed stated.

He expressed delight with SERAP’s dedication to justice, fairness and justness, stressing that it was the collective responsibility of all to tackle any perceived challenge facing the Nigerian judiciary.

The CJN also stated that with the support of well-meaning Nigerians and SERAP, a transparent, fair and equitable justice system would be attained.

Mohammed urged SERAP to continue to strive to support and entrench good governance in the country.

NHRC plans to probe arrest of judges.

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The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said that it would soon commence full investigation into the arrest of some judges by the Department of State Services (DSS) to determine the alleged abuses of their human rights.

Executive Secretary of the commission, Prof. Ben Angwe, who stated this when he received some protesters under the umbrella of Lawyers in Defence of Democracy (LDD) in his office yesterday, said the NHRC would not take side or orders from anybody in conducting the investigation.

He said the commission did not commence any action on the issue in the past because there were nine petitions before it.

Angwe said the petition by the group would enable the commission move into action, adding that the NHRC would be fair to all parties.
The group, led by its convener, Ikenga Ogochinyere, said it had rejected the call for the stepping aside of the arrested judges.

It also demanded that the DSS and other agencies release from detention all Nigerians who have been granted bail by the courts and who have fulfilled their bail conditions, including compliance with all judgments and orders.

Besides, the LDD and Citizens for Good Governance (CGG) have passed a vote of confidence on the National Judicial Council (NJC) over the manner it handled the invasion of the houses of two Supreme Court justices and five others by the DSS.

The lawyers, who besieged the entrance to the Federal High Court, Abuja described as unconstitutional the way the judges were arrested, saying it was a threat to democracy.

They, therefore, appealed to the United Nations (UN), United Kingdom (UK), United States (U.S.) and Amnesty International to call the Federal Government to order.

The groups further accused the executive of plotting to overthrow the judiciary so as to enthrone abuse of human rights and subversion of the rule of law.

In another development, the country representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Cristina Albertin, has said for the fight against corruption to be successful, the judiciary must be seen as keen to dispense justice.

She also said the fight against corruption was a prerequisite for development, social justice and eradication of poverty.

“The integrity of investigators and prosecutors must be beyond reproach. The best law has no value if it is not enforced.

“The best judges and magistrates are wasted if the cases are never brought to them; or if cases brought to them are incomplete and/or inadmissible in evidence”, she said.

EFCC Grills Senior Lawyers Who Allegedly Transferred Huge Sums To Judges

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At least three senior Nigerian lawyers reported to the Economic and Financial Crimes’ office on Thursday to answer questions over alleged transfer of huge sums of money into the bank accounts of some judges.

Paul Usoro, Gani Adetola-Kaseem, and Felix Fagbohungbe, all senior advocates of Nigeria, were at the EFCC’s Lagos office at about 9:15 a.m., a source at the Commission said.

“We have discovered that corruption in the judiciary is widespread,” said the source who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter.

“Those we invited were found to have transferred money into the judges’ bank accounts. We want them to come and explain the reason for the transfers. More are still coming, about 20 to 30 of them.

“Some Senior Advocates of Nigeria who have assisted the Commission in handling some of our cases in the past are also involved. Some of these lawyers had assisted us with useful legal opinions on several matters. So, we are in a dilemma.”

The source said the leadership of EFCC may have invited the senior lawyers following accusations that the Commission was planning to cover-up the activities of these senior lawyers to preserve their existing relationship.

The lawyers’ invitation followed last week’s visit to the Commission by some judges including Uwani Abba-Aji, James Agbadu-Fishim, Mohammed Yunusa, Nganjiwa Hyledzira, and Musa Kurya.

The invitations are part of an ongoing investigation into alleged corruption in the Nigerian judiciary.

 Seven top judges were earlier arrested by the State Security Service, SSS.

The EFCC source said another senior lawyer, Niyi Akintola, was also summoned by the anti-graft body but he was unable to report because he had travelled to Abuja to defend a judge before the National Judicial Commission following a petition by a litigant.

Last week, Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, a judge recently sanctioned by the NJC, who was also invited by the EFCC, failed to honour her invitation.

Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia, who was barred from further elevation on the bench till her retirement, had yet to respond to the EFCC’s invitation as of Thursday.

“If any judge refuses to honour our summons, the EFCC will have no choice than to employ legal process to make him or her respect the law of the land,” the EFCC source said.

“We have accorded all the judges who came to the EFCC a lot of respect in line with international best practices.”

Credit:

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Video: If accused Judges should resign, Buhari should also resign over WAEC result – Ebun Adegboruwa

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A human rights lawyer, Ebun Adegboruwa, in an interview with Channels TV, argued that the judges accused of corruption should not step aside.

He claimed that according to law, an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a competent court.

Ebun Adegboruwa also argued that if the judges should resign, Buhari should also resign over allegations about his WAEC result.

Watch video:

https://youtu.be/Eh9OugLX3Kk

N47.6bn fraud: Absence of prosecutor, witness stalls Tompolo, Akpobolokemi’s trial

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The scheduled trial of an ex-Niger Delta militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, for an alleged fraud of N47.6bn was stalled on Thursday due to the absence of the prosecutor, Mr. Festus Keyamo.

Keyamo wrote to the Federal High Court in Lagos, where the trial was taking place, to ask for an adjournment on the grounds that his main witness was not available for Thursday.

Consequently, the trial judge, Justice Ibrahim Buba, adjourned the case till December 13 and 14, 2016 for trial.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had, on April 18, 2016, arraigned Tompolo in absentia on 22 counts of alleged N47.6bn fraud.

Also arraigned in absentia in relation to the alleged fraud were six brothers of a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency, Patrick Akpobolokemi. They are Igo, Julius, Victor, Norbert, Emmanuel and Clement.

Tompolo, Igo, Julius, Victor, Norbert, Emmanuel and Clement were declared as being “now at large” when the charges were read before Justice Buba on April 18.

But Akpobolokemi himself, two females – Josephine Otuaga and Rita Uruakpa – and one Kime Engozu, who were also listed as defendants in the amended charge, were present in court on April 18 to answer to the charges.

The other defendants in the charge are five companies, namely: Mieka Dive Training Institute Ltd/GTE; Oyeinteke Global Network Limited; Wabod Global Resources Ltd.; Boloboere Properties Estate Ltd.; Gokaid Marine Oil and Gas Ltd.; and Watershed Associated Resources.

The charges bordered on conspiracy, advance fee fraud and money laundering. But the defendants who were in court pleaded not guilty to all of them.

At the hearing on Thursday, one of the defence counsels, Mr. Oyesoji Oyeleke (SAN), informed the court of a preliminary objection he filed on behalf of his client, challenging the competence of the charges.

Oyeleke is contending that the prosecution had failed to depose to an affidavit stating that it had concluded its investigation before filing the charges.

For this failure he is urging the court to strike out the entire 22 counts filed by the EFCC against his client.

Another defence counsel, Mr. Sylvester Ekweme, representing one of the Akpobolokemi’s brothers, Clement, also informed the court of his client’s bail application pending to be heard.
Ekweme said his client had been in detention since April.

Justice Buba adjourned till November 10, 2016 to take the two pending applications.

Among other things, the EFCC alleged that the defendants conspired among themselves to defraud the Federal Government between December 2, 2014 and April 10, 2015, by inducing the Federal Government to deliver an aggregate sum of N11.9bn to them.

The EFCC claimed that the accused persons induced the Federal Government by “falsely pretending to the Federal Government that a parcel of land and its appurtenances situated at Mieka Dive Training Institute, Kurutie, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State had been acquired by NIMASA for the temporary campus of the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko.”

By allegedly making fraudulent and false representations to the Federal Government, the EFCC said, the defendants violated Section 1 (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other fraud related Offences Act 2006 and were liable to punishment under Section 1(3) of the same Act.

In another count, the EFCC accused the defendants of fraudulently converting a sum of N13,027,564,822 belonging to NIMASA to their private use sometime in 2014.

The offence is said to be contrary to Section 18 (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012.

The defendants were also accused of swindling the Federal Government to the tune of N11.940bn, by presenting a forged Certificate of Customary Right of Occupancy of Bendel State of Nigeria dated May 6, 2014 to NIMASA on the false claim that the forged document was genuine and issued by Warri South-West Local Council, Delta State.

For the alleged offence, the EFCC said the defendants were liable to being punished under Section 1(2)(c) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap. M17, Laws of the Federation, 2004.

50 NGOs demand resignation of ‘corrupt’ judges.

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Fifty NGOs under the umbrella of Forum of Non-Governmental Organisations have threatened to ground the judicial system if indicted judges in the bribery scandals are not prosecuted.

The forum further questioned what it termed National Judicial Council (NJC) ‘shielding’ of indicted Justices from being prosecuted while arguing that Section 2 (3) of the National Security Agencies Act 1986, conferred on the Department of State Security Services powers to prosecute financial crimes.

The forum at a press briefing yesterday also called for immediate resignations of indicted judges saying they “have been tainted in the court of public opinion” hence the need to clear themselves of the allegations against them.

“We are hereby calling on the serving judges/justices among who were arrested by the DSS to immediately step down, since the conniving NJC’s 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.

“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.

The chairman of the forum, Wole Badmus noted that while the forum did not hold the opinion that the Nigerian judiciary is corrupt, there’s need to weed off “bad eggs” from amongst judicial officers in the country.

The forum expressed worry over the deafening silence of the NLC, TUC and other mass-based Labour Unions in the ongoing fight against ‘corrupt’ judicial officers just as it admonished the federal government to continue to take the lead in the prosecution of the battle against corruption in the judiciary.

“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 some instances, choice of foreign currencies.

“We are hereby calling on the serving judge/ 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 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. “If the affected judges/justices failed to step down, we will mobilise Nigerians to besiege their courts until they have heeded the call to step down. 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 a Buhari 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 into a stumbling block against the war.

“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,” he said.

Embattled NJC bars disclosure of petitions against judges.

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The National Judicial Council has put in place a policy to curb the disclosure of petitions against judicial officers.

The new policy will bar the media from reporting on details of such petitions until the council considers it right for such disclosures.

The policy is coming at a time of intense public scrutiny of the regulatory body, following the arrest and investigation of several senior judges on allegations of corruption.

Seven judges were arrested two weeks ago by operatives of the State Security Service.

The NJC has been accused of not doing enough to stem judicial corruption. It has also been accused of not investigating petitions raised either by the public or security agencies.

The Nigeria Bar Association called for the suspension of the arrested judges, but the NJC said the suggestion was “unacceptable”.

Under the new policy, petitioners willing to file complaints against judicial officers must first depose to an affidavit pledging that no content of such petitions would be made public, by them or by persons known to them.

The council said it would discard any petition made public, even after investigations have already commenced.

“Where complaints on allegations against judicial officers and court employees are submitted for investigation, the complainant or complainants shall be made to give an undertaking not to do anything to prejudice investigation or actions that may be taken,” it said.

“The institutions of the judiciary concerned with investigation or and implementation of decisions taken on such complaints shall be obliged to cease further action where such complaints are leaked or discussed in the media.

“Where such a leakage is occasioned after the submission of a complaint then all investigations on the complaints shall be suspended, the leakage investigated and if such leakage is from the complainant on through other parties known to such a complainant, such a complaint should be discarded.

“Where such leakage is occasioned prior to the presentation of the complaint and the source of the leakage is found to be the complainant or through other parties known to and connected with the complainant then such complaint shall not be accepted, upon submission, by the appropriate disciplinary body,” the council said.

The council further said it would only allow the publication of complaints after investigation had been concluded.

“Upon the conclusion of any investigation, the judicial disciplinary bodies may allow public disclosure of their findings, subject to following the proper channels for such disclosure,” it said.

Corruption Is Our Biggest Problem – NJC

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Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Mahmud Mohammed yesterday described corruption as a major problem in the judiciary.

The CJN spoke against the background of the security operation against two Supreme Court Justices and other judges, who are due to face corruption charges.

Justice Mohammed, Chairman  NJC, said: “It would be stating the obvious to opine that the greatest single menace that challenges the justice system in Nigeria today is corruption.

“This endemic vice is not peculiar to any region and ethnic group, cutting across faiths, religious denominations, levels of education and economic status.

“Corruption has serious implications for both the rule of law and access to justice, and must be fought both institutionally and individually.

“This is why the National Judicial Policy contains clear provisions restating the Judiciary’s commitment to transparency and accountability.

“This is clearly spelled out in Paragraph 5.1 of the National Judicial Policy 2016, thus- ‘the National Judicial Policy recognizes that the greatest and most damaging challenge to administration of justice is corruption and that tackling this challenge must go beyond mere exhortation and sentiments.’

“The policy gives the legal backing for several multifaceted strategies and guidelines to be developed while the Judiciary continues to walk the talk in ridding corrupt Judicial Officers from its ranks, strictly in accordance with due process and the rule of law,” the CJN said.

Justice Mohammed, who spoke at the launch of the NJP, noted that the absence of such policy in the past has occasioned an uneven growth of the Judiciary.

“Certainly, the absence of a blueprint has resulted in a demand for the transformation of the Nigerian Judiciary into a modern judicial system.

“For a number of years, each Jurisdiction has had to muddle along in developing core values and objectives and this has led to a mixed bag of standards and policies.

“This has also been compounded by the challenging deprivations and paucity of resources, without which critical development was limited.

“The National Judicial Policy is a charter of commitment to the values that elevate not only our judicial institutions but also those who are employed by or involved in it.

“The importance of the foundational virtues of discipline, efficiency, integrity and enduring commitment are reflected in the National Judicial Policy as embodied in its first three regulations and rules of the policy,” the CJN said.

President Buhari Orders DSS To Hand Over Judges’ Cases To EFCC.

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President Muhammadu Buhari, reportedly unhappy with the work of the Department of State Services (DSS) after a team of lawyers reviewed the evidence gathered from the agency’s recent raid on judges suspected of corruption, has ordered that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) take over the matter.

The decision is said to have followed weeks of reviewing the evidence assembled by DSS, as well as the statements made by the judges involved.  The president is said to be insisting that the investigations must be more professionally handled.

Sources told SaharaReporters that the review of the case files, the delay in filing charges against the judges, and the shoddiness of the performance of DSS gave some of the judges the opportunity to start recanting their statements and twisting the facts of their cases.

A Presidency source said the President, as well as the office of the Vice President which also reviewed the cases, decided that multi-agency collaboration was needed to strengthen the cases before they go to court.

The DSS was initially mandated to work with the EFCC to do thorough investigations before a raid was carried out, but sources told SaharaReporters that due to intra-agency rivalry, the DSS refused to hand over case information to the EFCC and hid their plans from the anti-corruption agency, preferring to work with the Nigeria police.

Police officers invited on the raid, in turn, leaked the plans to the judges involved.  In the case of Rivers State, for instance, the police tipped off the state Governor, Nyeson Wike, who then mobilized, with the support of the state Commissioner of Police, to personally stop the arrest of a federal judge.

Another reason adduced for the action of the DSS was said to be the desire by the Director-General of the agency, Lawal Daura, to warm himself into the heart of the President.

President Buhari has now ordered him to work with the EFCC and ensure that future investigations are properly done.  Given the size of the anti-corruption challenge, however, it is unclear if, in the absence of outright rebuke or personnel changes,the president’s scheme might not be subverted.

NJC plans to stop publication of petitions against judges.

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The National Judicial Council is set to bar media reportage of allegations of misconduct levelled against judges and employees of the judiciary.

This is contained in the National Judicial Policy to be launched by the NJC on Monday and which will widen the dark veil that shields disciplinary proceedings against judges.

Under the new policy, the NJC or any institutions of the judiciary shall discard a complaint sent against a judge or employee of the judiciary for investigation if after receiving the complaint it is leaked or discussed in the media.

The policy partly read, “lt shall be the policy of the judiciary on complaints that allegations of misconduct against judicial officers or employees of the judiciary shall not be leaked or published in the media.

“Where complaints on allegations against judicial officers and court employees are submitted for investigation, the complainant or complainants shall be made to give an undertaking not to do anything to prejudice investigation or actions that may be taken.

“The institutions of the judiciary concerned with investigation or and implementation of decisions taken on such complaints shall be obliged to cease further action where such complaints are leaked or discussed in the media.

“Where such a leakage is occasioned after the submission of a complaint then all investigations on the complaints shall be suspended, the leakage investigated and if such leakage is from the complainant on through other parties known to such a complainant, such a complaint should be discarded.

“Where such leakage is occasioned prior to the presentation of the complaint and the source of the leakage is found to be the complainant or through other parties known to and connected with the complainant then such complaint shall not be accepted, upon submission, by the appropriate disciplinary body.

“Upon the conclusion of any investigation, the judicial disciplinary bodies may allow public disclosure of their findings, subject to following the proper channels for such disclosure.”

This is coming at a time when the NJC, the body vested with disciplinary powers over judges at all levels, is under public attack for either allegedly shielding corrupt judges or merely giving those found culpable a slap on the wrist.

The criticism of the NJC was sparked by the arrest of seven judges including two serving justices of the Supreme Court over alleged corruption allegations.

In the wake of the arrests, the arresting agency, the Department of State Services, said it took the step after the NJC allegedly rebuffed complaints against some of the arrested judges.

But the NJC has since denied the allegation of shielding corrupt judicial officers.

The new policy was prepared by the NJC in April 2016 but will only be launched under the chairmanship of the outgoing Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed on Monday.

It covers issues such as judicial appointment policy, judicial discipline policy, judicial code of conduct policy, judicial education and training policy, judicial performance policy, case flow management policy, judicial administration and court management policy and transparency and anti-corruption policy, among others.

The new policy tends to tie the hands of those who have submitted complaints against judges from taking any other step until the NJC completes its investigation.

The policy says, any judiciary institution that receives a complaint a judge or any court employee shall make the complainant to give undertaking not to do anything to prejudice investigation.

PDP Blames Buhari, Oyegun For Arrest Of Judges

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The Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday said the controversial arrest of some senior judges for alleged corruption was orchestrated by President Buhari and members of his party, the APC.

In a statement signed and distributed by its spokesman, Dayo Adeyeye, the opposition party said Nigerians should see the recent clampdown on judges by the State Security Service as a vindictive measure taken by Mr. Buhari and the chairman of his party, John Oyegun.

Mr. Adeyeye said Mr. Buhari and Mr. Oyegun were desperate to avenge what they saw as unfair rulings handed down by some judges against them in the past.

Making specific reference to some past comments credited to Messrs. Buhari and Oyegun, the PDP said “it is obvious that the judiciary can be said to have functioned appropriately only when they and their party win a case.”

Mr. Adeyeye, speaking on behalf of the provisional national leadership of the PDP, said Mr. Buhari, earlier this year, allegedly decried the injustice meted out to him by some judges many years ago.

“On the fight against corruption vis-à-vis the judiciary, Nigerians will be right to say that is my main headache for now.

“In my first attempt in 2003, I ended up at the Supreme Court and for 13 months I was in court.

“The second attempt in 2007, I was in court close to 20 months and in 2011, my third attempt, I was also in court for nine months.

“All these cases went up to the Supreme Court until the fourth time in 2015, when God agreed that I will be President of Nigeria,” the PDP quoted Mr. Buhari as saying in February 2016.

The PDP said the allegations by two Supreme Court judges that the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, tried to induce them showed the depth of the administration’s contempt towards the judiciary.

Read More:

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/213449-pdp-blames-buhari-oyegun-arrest-judges.html

Presidency Insists Judges Must Step Down for Trial

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The Presidency is insisting that two Supreme Court Justices and four others must step aside ahead of their trial for alleged corruption, it was learnt last night.

It also faulted Chief Justice Mahmud Mohammed’s claim that the Judiciary had issues with the Department of State Services (DSS), not the Federal Government.

It was also learnt that the DSS refused to release the evidence against the judges under probe to the National Judicial Council (NJC) in order not to prejudice their trial.

Those under investigation by the DSS are two Supreme Court Justices -Justice Sylvester Ngwuta and Justice Inyang Okoro; the suspended Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya, who was picked up in Sokoto; Justice Adeniyi Ademola (Federal High Court); the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice I. A. Umezulike; Justice Kabiru Auta of Kano State High Court; Justice Muazu Pindiga (Gombe State High Court); Justice Bashir Sukola and Justice Ladan Manir, from the Kaduna State High Court.

Of the nine judges, the NJC has recommended sanctions for Justice Tsamiya; Justice. Umezulike and Justice Kabiru Auta.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) is investigating six judges of the Federal High Court. They are: Justices Mohammed Nasir Yunusa; Hyeladzira Ajiya Nganjiwa; Musa Haruna Kurya; Agbadu James Fishim; Uwani Abba Aji; and Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia.

But the NJC has refused to suspend six of the judges because, according to the Judicial agency, the DSS is yet to submit petitions and evidence against them.

The government however said the judges must step aside to clear their names instead of facing trial while on the bench.

A top government source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The government has made its position known to the CJN. On why the judges should step aside ahead of their trial. The government will not yield ground on this.

“If we go ahead to arraign them in court, the same CJN and NJC will accuse the government of desecrating the Judiciary. The right step now is to allow the judges to face trial and clear the allegations against them.

“It is unfortunate that what the CJN told the government on how to handle the case of the judges was different from the statement he issued.

“We are suspecting that the CJN might be under pressure from his colleagues or he wants to leave the fate of the judges to his successor.

“He cannot rationalise by making a distinction between the Federal Government and the DSS. The government was in support of the sting operations of the security agency. So, the DSS did not act unilaterally.

“We will not take up issues with the CJN because the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA), some former Supreme Court Justices and the Body of Benchers have supported the position of the government that the judges should step aside.”

The source added: “Some of the judges in their letters to the CJN admitted having huge cash at home as if their houses are banks. In some jurisdictions, no judge can have up to $5,000 dollars at hand.

“We have a case of a judge who had never withdrawn a kobo from his salary account. How does he feed? Yet, the CJN was put into confidence on some of these issues at a meeting with some government officials. In what other way can the government respect the Judiciary?

It was learnt at the weekend that the NJC might meet this week or before the November 10 exit date of the CJN on the petitions against some judges.

It was gathered that the NJC session scheduled for Saturday was suddenly shifted following pressure from some quarters.

A member of the NJC said: “Yes, our meeting was postponed at the last minute because of certain circumstances. We are hopeful that we may meet this week, depending on the disposition of the CJN.

“What is however clear is that we will hold a meeting before the exit date of the CJN. We have to take a decision on some petitions against some judges before the council. One of the petitions is a high profile one.

“It is also statutory that we meet to bid the CJN a farewell and ratify some recommendations on some judges.”

It was gathered that the DSS refused to release evidence against the embattled judges to the NJC in order not to lay all the cards on the table before their trial.

The DSS suspects that there is no way the judges will not be privy to the evidence against them and they may begin to frustrate their trial with preliminary objection.

The agency prefers encounters with the judges in court instead of the NJC, which is a disciplinary body.

A security source said: “With the suspicious manner the NJC threw away some cases/ petitions against some judges, the DSS cannot take such a risk to make all its evidence available to the body.

“Take the case of a judge who was implicated in a N500million bribery, the Petition Review Committee of the NJC cleared him. This is a judge who admitted on tape to have collected bribe.

“It took some persistence by a petitioner before the NJC could accept to sanction the Chief Judge of Enugu State. He was retired after about four petitions against him.

“Another judge accused of demanding N200million was retired by the NJC when the law is explicit on what should be done.

“To give evidence to NJC will amount to prejudging the judges. The DSS conducted sting operations in some judges’ quarters; it believes the law should take its course through trial.

“Once the evidence are made available to the NJC, the trial of the judges will suffer a setback from the outset because they will know what the government has against them.”

Judges Accused of Corruption Should go on Compulsory Leave – NBA

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The Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) has advised judges facing allegations of corruption to proceed on compulsory leave until their innocence is proven.

The judges are Sylvester Ngwuta and John Okoro (supreme court); Adeniyi Ademola and Nnamdi Dimgba (federal high court); Mohammed Tsamiya (appeal court, Ilorin); Kabri Auta (high court, Kano) and Muazu Pindiga (high court, Gombe).

On October 8, the Department of State Services arrested the judges after raiding their homes, claiming it recovered huge amounts of money, including foreign currencies from some of them.

The NBA had called for the release of the judges, threatening “consequences” if they were not released.

Speaking at a valedictory session held in honour of Sotonye Denton-West, a retiring appeal court judge, in Abuja, on Thursday, Abubakar Mahmoud, president of NBA, advised the accused judges to cease performing judicial functions until their innocence has been proven.

“My Lords, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, permit me to digress a little. I am sure that many here will be expecting me to make further statements on the ongoing events affecting the nation’s judiciary,” he said.

“I have, in the course of the last two weeks or so, made several statements and remarks on these developments. Our position is therefore well-known. We have emphasised our commitment to safeguarding the independence of the nation’s judiciary.

“That is corruption in the judiciary. On Thursday 13th of October at the meeting of bar leaders comprising past NBA presidents, past general secretaries and past attorneys-general of the federation, we reviewed very carefully the developments after listening to detailed briefings from both the attorney-general and minister of justice as well the secretary of the National Judicial Council.

“One of the resolutions we took was to set up a Task Force to urgently review the current developments and come up with clear specific recommendations on how best to clean up the nation’s judiciary and rebuild the confidence of Nigerians in our law courts. I am expecting the report of that task force in two weeks.

“In the meantime, we have continued with our consultations and engagements. We will be coming up with bold and clear recommendations, which we will pass to the National Judicial Council and the Government.

“In the interim, however, particularly having regards to what appears to ongoing accusations and counter-accusations between some of the judges and other personalities or agencies, it appears to the NBA that it is extremely important that the NJC takes very urgent steps to safeguard the public image and sanctity of the courts.

“We therefore strongly recommend that, without prejudice to the innocence or otherwise of the judges involved in the ongoing investigations, they should be required to recuse themselves from further judicial functions or required to proceed on compulsory leave until their innocence is fully and completely established or until the conclusion of all judicial or disciplinary proceedings.

“We believe this will be necessary in order to protect the sanctity and integrity of judicial processes that may involve the judges concerned and safeguard the public image of the institution.”?

BREAKING: Arrested judges to step aside pending trial.

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The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, on Thursday, asked all the judges being investigated over their alleged involvement in acts of corruption to excuse themselves from further judicial functions or proceed on compulsory leave, until their innocence is fully and completely established.

The legal body said such step was not only necessary in order to protect the sanctity and integrity of judicial processes that may involve the judges concerned, but to also safeguard the public image of the judiciary as an institution.

NBA, which made its position known at a valedictory court session that was held in honour of a retiring Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Sotonye Denton-West, further urged the National Judicial Council, NJC, to take very urgent steps to restore the sanctity of the courts.

It will be recalled that among Judges whose homes were raided by operatives of the Department of State Service, DSS, between October 8 and 9, included two Supreme Court Justices- Iyang Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta. Others included Justices Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court Abuja, Kabir Auta of the Kano High Court, Muazu Pindiga of Gombe High Court, Mohammed Tsamiya of the Court of Appeal in Ilorin, and the Chief Judge of Enugu State, I. A. Umezulike.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is equally probing some judges allegedly involved in fraudulent transactions.

Meanwhile, the National President of the NBA, Mr. A.B Mahmoud, SAN, in an address he presented at the special court session, said:

“My Lords, distinguished ladies and gentlemen permit me digress a little. I am sure that many here will be expecting me to make further statements on the ongoing events affecting the nation’s judiciary.

“I have in the course of the last two weeks or so made several statements and remarks on these developments. Our position is therefore well known. We have emphasized our commitment to safeguarding the independence of the nation’s judiciary.

“We have also spoken firmly on our commitment to rid the judiciary and indeed the bar of all corrupt elements. I will like to say we remain resolute on these. In the course of the last several days, the NBA has continued to hold high level consultations with all segments of the bar and other stakeholders and indeed the administration on how to address what has obviously become a major concern to all Nigerians within and outside the country. Ngwuta, Okoro and Ademola “That is corruption in the judiciary.

On Thursday 13th of October at the meeting of bar leaders comprising past NBA Presidents, Past General Secretaries and past Attorneys –General of the Federation, we reviewed very carefully the developments after listening to detailed briefings from both the Attorney General and Minister of Justice as well the Secretary of the National Judicial Council.

“One of the resolutions we took was to set up a Task Force to urgently review the current developments and come up with clear specific recommendations on how best to clean up the nation’s judiciary and rebuild confidence of Nigerians in our law courts. I am expecting the report of that task force in two weeks.

“In the meantime we have continued with our consultations and engagements. We will be coming up with bold and clear recommendations which we will pass to the National Judicial Council and the Government.

“In the interim however, particularly having regards to what appears to an ongoing accusations and counter accusations between the some of the Judges and other personalities or agencies, it appears to the NBA that it is extremely important that the NJC takes very urgent steps to safeguard the public image and sanctity of the courts.

“We therefore strongly recommend that, without prejudice to the innocence or otherwise of the Judges involved in the ongoing investigations, they should be required to recuse themselves from further judicial functions or required to proceed on compulsory leave until their innocence is fully and completely established or until the conclusion of all judicial or disciplinary proceedings.

“We believe this will be necessary in order to protect the sanctity and integrity of judicial processes that may involve the judges concerned and safeguard the public image of the institution”.

Similarly, Chairman of Akure branch of the NBA, Mr. Oso Adetunji, in his own address, said there was need to deal with corrupt judges without desecrating the sacredness of the judiciary as an institution.

“The task before us as a nation is not to debate whether there are corrupt judges in our judiciary, the task is how to remove or deal with the few corrupt ones on the Bench, without destroying the judiciary.

“A corrupt judge on the bench is a cancer to the system. It eats deep into the system and will eventually kill the system if not removed. But let us remove such cancerous judges with care and due processes so that in our attempt to kill the cancer, we don’t inadvertently kill the system too.

“Let us deal with the corrupt judges in the judiciary without desecrating the sacredness of the institution. In dealing with the corrupt judges in our midst, let us treat the system with decency and dignity, so as to preserve the awe with which the ordinary man holds the court.

“Let every corrupt judge first be subjected to the disciplinary procedure of the NJC, disciplined and removed before subjecting him to the ridicule and treatment of a common criminal. It is not for him. It is for the sake of the system. I would be happy to see a corrupt judge handcuffed, paraded and docked. But for the sake of the system, let such be arraigned and docked as dismissed judicial officers. After all, the Nigeria Police Force will not submit its officer, no matter how junior he is, for prosecution without first removing his uniform.

“We all know that the NJC does not have the statutory power to prosecute. It is only saddled with the power to by virtue of section 292(1), Paragraph 20 (b) (d) of the Third Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, to discipline a judge.

“Let the NJC first discipline, by removing a judge from office, before handing him over for prosecution. To be able to this, the NJC must embark on a confidence building process by repositioning itself for this task.

“We suggest that petition against and judicial official be treated thoroughly and with dispatch. It must act without fear or favour. Spouses of any politically exposed person should not be elevated to the Bench. Where the spouse of any politically exposed person is serving before his or her spouse was elevated to the Bench, let such spouse step down from the Bench”, Adetunji added.

Meanwhile, Justice Denton-West who bowed out of the appellate court bench having clocked the 70 years mandatory retirement age, in her speech, said she was a victim of corruption in the judiciary.

Justice Denton-West, who was the first female judge in Rivers State, said: “I would be failing in my duties as a senior citizen of this country, if I fail to comment on the recent goings in the judiciary. Indeed I know and believe that there is corruption unfortunately even in the folds of the judiciary. I have personally been a victim of corrupt acts from the judiciary on some occasions”.

However, she called on the authorities to revisit the remuneration of justices.

“The workload is heavy. Something should be done to give comfort to both serving judges and those that have retired. We spend almost all our time to make the society liveable, so, giving us a liveable life should not be too much. The judiciary still remains the common hope of all. So please may everybody treat the judiciary with respect”, she added.

Among dignitaries at the event included Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

Corruption: FG okays trial of Justices Okoro, Ademola, others.

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The Federal Government on Wednesday shunned the National Judiciary Council and pressed ahead with its decision to bring the seven suspected corrupt judges to justice.

The seven are among the 15 already identified by the Department of State Services and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, but the other eight are yet to be named and invited for questioning.

The NJC, which claimed to have omnibus powers over both criminal and administrative matters relating to judges in Nigeria, last week disregarded the Presidency’s directive to suspend the suspected corrupt judicial officers from duty, pending the trial and disposal of the criminal allegations levelled against them.

Rather than comply with the Presidency’s order, the NJC slammed the DSS for daring to search the homes of the judges in the night and making away with huge cash in local and foreign currencies.

Although none of the suspects denied keeping the huge cash in their homes, the NJC was silent on the propriety of the discovery of the money in the homes of the judges, but disparaged the DSS for the raid, which it claimed was intended to cow the judges from doing their jobs.

In a brazen move to get at both the NJC and the suspects, who have tried to blame key ministers in President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for their ordeal, the Federal Government on Wednesday formally approved the prosecution of the suspects with immediate effect.

A top Presidency official confirmed to Vanguard that the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, had approved the immediate prosecution of the suspects so as not to give the erroneous impression that government was promoting corruption.

The top source said the trial of the suspects would be carried out in phases and handled by the National Prosecution Council, which was recently inaugurated.

The source said the refusal of the NJC to suspend the suspected judges was interpreted as a “slap” on the Presidency and that no country would allow a few people to constitute themselves into a cabal that is “above the law”.

Asked to disclose the nature of the charges to be preferred against the judges, the official said: “The charges are generally for corruption, with an isolated case of illegal possession of firearms to be pressed against one of the judges.”

The firearms were recovered from the home of one of the suspects by the DSS during the nocturnal raid on October 7, a development that had sparked national outrage.

Giving further insight into the trial, the source hinted: “I can tell you that the National Prosecution Council will lead the prosecution of the suspects, while the Director of Public Prosecution in the Federal Ministry of Justice will coordinate the team.

“The charges were cleared from the OHAGF only yesterday and the suspects are certainly going to be charged to court any moment from now.

“The Federal Government is not deterred by the refusal of the NJC to suspend the suspects from office.”

Efforts to speak with Malami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, proved abortive, as he was said to be outside Nigeria.

None of his officials claimed knowledge of the approval of the charges against the suspected judges.

It will be recalled that the DSS had launched a sting operation in the homes of the judges on the night of October 7, 2016, recovering local and foreign currencies worth N360 million.

Two of the judges are from the Supreme Court, while the rest sit in Federal and State High Courts.

While Justice John Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court claimed on Tuesday that the $38,000 found in his home was his estacode, he did not say how the over N3 million cash was left in his home and not the bank.

On the other hand, Justices Ademola Adeniyi and Nnamdi Dimgba have blamed their ordeal in the hands of the DSS on Malami over certain court verdicts they claimed they gave against him in the past.

Nonetheless, the allegations against Malami were not mentioned to anyone until the raids on their homes by the DSS.

Judge Presiding Over ‘El Chapo’s’ Case Shot, Killed While Jogging Outside Home

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The judge who presided over Sinaloa Cartel drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s case was shot in the head while jogging outside of his home Monday near Mexico City, according to media reports.

Judge Vicente Bermudez Zacarias, 37, was the judge presiding over Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s case, according to SDP Noticias. Zacarias lived in Metepec, which is 45 miles west of Mexico City.

 

SDP Noticias reported that the person who shot Zacarias fled the scene. Zacarias later died at the hospital in Metepec.

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    Mexican army soldiers escort drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman to a helicopter to be transported to a maximum security prison at Mexicos Attorney Generals hangar, in Mexico City, on Jan. 8. Photo: Eduardo Verdugo /Associated Press / AP

Photo: Eduardo Verdugo /Associated Press
 
 
According to Tristan Reed, Mexico Security Analyst for Stratfor Global Intelligence firm, there is no reason for El Chapo to go after Trump whom Reed called a “well known, wealthy figure in another country,” as it would cause unwanted attention from law enforcement. Despite reports from Daily Mail, Reed indicated that there is no truth to these rumors.
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Mexican army soldiers escort drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to a helicopter to be transported to a maximum security prison at Mexicos Attorney Generals hangar, in Mexico City, on Jan. 8.
 

The Mexico City newspaper reported that the judge was not given any protection while presiding over cases of drug lords like Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, leader of Los Cuinis cartel, and Guzman.

Guzman is currently being held in a federal prison on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, which borders El Paso, Texas.The Sinaloa Cartel druglord could be extradited to the United States by early 2017. 

Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia shuns EFCC invitation

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Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, justice of the federal high court, Lagos, on Tuesday, failed to honour an invitation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

But Musa Haruna Kurya, another judge of the federal high court, reported at the commission’s Lagos office at 10 am on Tuesday in order to react to some findings in an ongoing investigation.

Kurya, accompanied by his lawyer, was attended to by the operatives of the commission on arrival.

However, Ofilli-Ajumogobia, who was also supposed to be at the commission’s office on a similar invitation, dishonoured the call and refused to show up at all.

On Monday, two federal high court judges, Mohammed Nasir Yunusa and Nganjiwa Hyledzira, reported to the EFCC Lagos office, where they were quizzed for hours.

The National Judicial Commission (NJC) had placed Ofili-Ajumogbobia on its “watch-list,” and had barred her from being elevated from her present position, owing to gross misconduct.

BREAKING: Senate confirms Buhari’s nominees as supreme court justices.

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The senate on Tuesday confirmed President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominees as justices of the supreme court.

The president’s nominees as justices of the supreme court are Ejembi Eko (Benue) and Amina Augie (Kebbi).

In a letter dated September 22, Buhari had sent the names to the senate for confirmation, which was referred to the judiciary, human rights and legal matters committee.

While speaking on the floor of the senate, David Umoru, senate chairman committee on judiciary, human rights and legal matters, said his committee found the justices worthy to be judges in the supreme court after “careful scrutiny”.

He added that the committee did not receive any petition against them.

The senate approved of the nominees after it was put to electronic voting, with the candidates scoring 38 to 0 and 39 to 1, respectively.

Also, the senate has received President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominees for commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the National Population Commission (NPC).

The nominees for INEC commissioners are Okechukwu Ibeanu (Anambra), May Agbamuche (Delta), Ahmed Mu’azu (Gombe), Mohammed Haruna (Niger), Adekunle Ogunmola (Oyo) and Abubakar Nahuche.

The nominees for NPC commissioners are Benedict Ukpong (Akwa Ibom), Gloria Izonfuo (Bayelsa), Kupchi Iyanya (Benue), Haliru Bala (Kebbi) and Eyitayo Oyetunji (Oyo).

The confirmation of nominees sought by Buhari is in accordance with Sections 153 and 154 of the 1999 constitution as amended.

No Peace For Corrupt Judges…You Can’t Jail Small Thieves & Be Covering Big Thieves- Prof. Itse Sagay

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Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), has justified the recent arrest of judges on allegations of corruption, categorizing acts of corruption by judicial officers as a serious crime against humanity.

Also on his part, Executive Secretary of PACAC, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, called for the suspension of the judges arrested by the Department of State Services on allegations of corruption pending when they would clear their names.

The spoke at PACAC’s interaction with reporters on the first anniversary of the committee’s activities.

Responding to various criticisms from some quarters against the raids on the houses and the arrest of seven judges, Sagay said those critics failed to understand the implications of corruption.

He said an ordinary man could be guilty of corruption, but a judge should never be otherwise the system will collapse.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria stated, “Ordinary man like you and me can be guilty of corruption; a judge should never be guilty of corruption.

“Once a judge does that, he brings himself to our level and so, cannot complain if he is treated like you and me are treated. That is what has happened. Let us be objective and be fair to this country in our commentary and not be narrow-minded.”

Sagay said because of its tendency to inflame, resorting to self-help and ultimately breakdown of law and order, judiciary corruption could be described as a crime against humanity.

“Those who have criticized the DSS have not looked at the implications of judicial corruption. This is because at the end of the day, when there is corruption, who do they take the matter to, to the judge? The judge is the ultimate and if the buck stops at his table and that judge is complicit in corruption, then, that is the end of the fight against corruption. That is how awful it is.

“So, any judge who is corrupt is committing what I can even call a crime against humanity because it just destroys our confidence and the system, which will sustain the state in law and order.

“It encourages people to resort to self-help because there is no hope in taking the crime to court.

“Today, we have some governors who are sitting there who we know did not win an election. And because they killed on their way to the office, people are still dying to sustain them in office.

“Yet, some courts at the highest level gave approval to the process that brought those people to what I call their bloody seats on which they are sitting.

“If the judiciary is corrupt, if the only body, in fact, the only arm of government that has the power of life and death over Nigerians, is corrupt, then it is sad.”

He said people should be sad that “Billions” that were supposed to be meant for the construction of roads, building and equipping schools and hospitals were found in private residences.

“Isn’t it enough that billions of naira are found in private residences? Don’t we associate these billions of naira with the fact that our roads are in a state of disrepair; that our hospitals are under or ill-equipped; that schools are dilapidated; and that it affects your daily life? What of those whose salaries are not paid in the public service? All this money came from the public purse.

He blamed the arrest of the judges on what he described as the loss of moral authorities on the part of current Supreme Court Justices.

He said in the era of Justices of the “golden Supreme Court” such as the late Justice Kayode Eso, no government agency would dare to arrest them even when they delivered a lot of judgments against the then military administrations, including that of the Head of State, Gen. Buhari (now President).

“We need the judiciary, but we need an upright judiciary. Without that, all arms of government will collapse, democracy will collapse.”

Two Federal High Court Judges Report To EFCC (Photos)

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Two Federal High Court judges Mohammed Nasir Yunusa and Hyeladzira Ajiya Nganjiwa today, 17th October, 2016, reported to the Lagos Office of EFCC. The judges arrived at the Commission’s Lagos Office following an invitation letter the EFCC extended to them.
Their invitation is sequel to the bribery and money laundering allegations the Commission discovered during investigations in an ongoing case in which two senior lawyers have already been arraigned in court.
It would be recalled that the EFCC had on March 9, 2016, arraigned two senior lawyers Rickey Tarfa SAN and Joseph Nwobike SAN, before a Lagos High Court on allegations of bribery and offering gratification to a public official. Nwobike and Tarfa are facing criminal prosecution for allegedly offering gratification to Federal High Court judges to refrain them from exercising the duties of their office.
Subsequent investigation revealed that the two Judges allegedly received sums of money from the two senior lawyers severally.
The judges are presently being attended to by operatives of the commission.

 

 

 

Just In: Names Of Nigerian Judges Under Investigation Revealed.

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SaharaReporters has obtained a full list of top Nigerian judges under investigation by security agencies across the country. The list is contained in a confidential memo forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari on a recent dramatic move by agents of the Department of State Security (DSS) against judges accused of accepting bribes as well as other acts of corruption.

A week ago, agents of the Department of State Security (DSS) embarked on an unprecedented raid of homes of numerous judges, arresting several of them, including two Supreme Court justices directly linked with alleged electoral judgment fraud in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.

The judges named in a confidential list sent to President Muhammadu Buhari include Justices Nwali Sylvester Ngwuta and John Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court, Justice  Muhammad Ladan Tsamiya of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Uwani Abba-Aji of the Court of Appeal, Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Justice Mohammed Yunusa of the Federal high Court, Justice Kabir Auta of the Kano State High Court, Justice Munir Ladan of the Kaduna State High Court, Justice Bashir Sukola of the Kaduna State High Court, and Justice Mu’azu Pindiga of Gombe State High Court.

Other high profile judges named in the confidential memo include Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, the current President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ibrahim Auta, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdul Kafarati of the Federal High Court, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba and Justice Anwuli Chikere of the Federal High Court.

The memo accused Justice Chikere of receiving cash for a pre-election matter that came before her. Justice Chikere is married to Kenneth Anayo Chikere, a chieftain the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State and a former member of the House of Representatives. According to the source of the memo, Mr. Chikere acted as go-between to funnel significant amounts of cash to his wife who then proceeded to give favorable judgments to those who offered the cash.

The memo alleged that Justice Kabiru Auta collected bribes from a businessman named “Alhaji Kabiru SKY.” The bribe scandal led the National Judicial Council (NJC) to suspend the judge, but the council later recalled the judge, claiming there was not sufficient evidence that he auctioned verdicts from the bench.

Justice Abdul Kafarati has a litany of corruption allegations against him, even though he is due to become the new Chief Judge of the Federal High Court. Officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) allegedly found more than N2 billion in the judge’s bank account. The judge reportedly claimed he had earned the funds from his farming business in Yobe State. Recently, Justice Kafarati granted a N26 billion verdict in favor of Capital Oil CEO, Ifeanyi Uba, against the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON). Mr. Uba was the biggest debtor to AMCON. The memo stated that Justice Kafarati has a favorite lawyer, Prince Ajibola Oluyede, who funnels bribes to him to grant illegal orders and pay-to-play judgments.

Justice Yunusa also faces several allegations of corruption. The memo cited evidence that he took N5 million bribe from a senior lawyer, Rickey Tarfa. Justice Yunusa is also accused of disregarding case precedents set by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Justice Pindiga of the Gombe State High Court was thrust into national prominence on account of his involvement in the Rivers State election petition fraud. He reportedly received N100 million from Governor Nyeson Wike of Rivers State to influence a tribunal ruling in the governor’s favor. The judge was subsequently removed as the head of the tribunal, but he reportedly bought several cars and built houses from the proceeds of his alleged corruption.

Justices Munir Ladan and Bashir Suokla of the Kaduna High Court were recommended for arrest and prosecution based on several petitions alleging that they receive bribes in exchange for verdicts. Some lawyers reportedly characterized the two judges as “cash-and-carry” judges.

Some of the most extensive allegations in the memo pertain to Justice Adeniyi Ademola. In one instance, the judge allegedly accepted a $200k bribe to discharge a garnishee order against the Delta State House of Assembly. He was also accused of using his position as a judge to get his wife appointed to the position of Head of Service in Lagos State because of shady dealings with Bola Tinubu, national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In 2010, the Cross Rivers State command of the DSS determined that Justice Ademola had accepted a bribe from some members of the “Peace Corps of Nigeria” and oil bunkerers under prosecution.

Justice Ademola was arrested last weekend and allegedly found to be in possession of $550k, part of which he reportedly claimed belonged to Justice Auta, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court. Justice Ademola was also allegedly found with two unlicensed Pump Action Rifles in his Abuja home.

The judge has asserted that his ordeal was because he once tried current Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), for professional  misconduct when he was a judge in Kaduna. He has accused Mr. Malami of being behind his harassment, adding that the raid on his residence was a part of a retaliation plot by the AGF. The judge did not, however, deny the fact that he was found with huge cash at home.

Justice Ibrahim Auta of the Federal High Court faces several allegations of misconduct, according to the memo obtained by SaharaReporters. The accusations against him include accepting bribes in order to assign “lucrative” cases to certain corruption judges who give him kickbacks. Numerous real estate assets have been traced to him. In addition, law enforcement agents allege that he once accepted N500,000 from Mr. Rickey Tarfa.

Justice Tsamiya of the Court of Appeal is accused of demanding N200 million from an interested party in a case before his court. He was arrested last week after the NJC determined that he was guilty of demanding for bribes.

Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, president of the Court of Appeal, is named in the memo where she is described as incurably corrupt and stupendously wealthy. Even though agents found that Justice Bulkachuwa abstained from taking bribes in the Rivers State election case, she is accused of engaging in bribery and taking kickbacks from judges to which she assigned “lucrative” cases.

Justice Abba Aji reportedly received N8 million from Mr. Tarfa. SaharaReporters learned that she was dropped from the list of judges recommended for elevation to the Supreme Court on account of her implication in the Tarfa bribe scandal.

In addition, Justice Bulkachuwa is alleged to have taken bribes from former Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Governor Patrick Okowa of Delta State in order to facilitate favorable judgment in election petitions.

The two justices of the Supreme Court, Ngwuta and Okoro, allegedly received significant bribes from Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State. Security agents allege that Mr. Wike gave the two judges N5 billion to ensure that other Supreme Court justices ruled in the governor’s favor in a final election petition at the Supreme Court.

SaharaReporters had earlier reported that Justice Mary Odili of the Supreme Court played a role in the Wike case. Justice Odili reportedly wept in front of her colleagues, claiming that her husband, former Governor Peter Odili of Rivers State, would die prematurely if Mr. Wike’s election was not upheld. Justice Odili reportedly coordinated the bribe scheme with Justice Ngwuta, who allegedly took delivery of some of the bribe in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Justice Walter Onnoghen, the nominee for the post of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, is alleged to have taken part in the Wike bribe scandal. However, security agents decided not to go after him, telling President Buhari that the backlash would be intense if Justicd Onnoghen, a southerner, were bypassed for CJN in favor of a northerner.

Justices Ngwuta and Okoro were also named in the case of Akwa Ibom where the governor is alleged to have disbursed a huge amount of money to bribe Supreme Court justices to secure a favorable ruling. A senior lawyer, Damian Dodo (SAN) reportedly facilitated the deal using a female in his chambers whose name was given as “Kauma”. The Akwa Ibom governor paid the highest bribe to the Supreme Court justices.

Both justices were among judges arrested last week in late night raids carried out by the DSS. Security agents claimed that Justices Ngwuta and Okoro were found with stashes of foreign currency at their homes. Both justices have since been released.

Other judges mentioned in the memo include Justices I. A. Umezulike, who two weeks ago was retired by the NJC, Ibrahim Buba, Rita Ajumogobia and an unnamed judge of the Lagos State High Court.

Corruption: EFCC Moves Against More Judges, Court Registrars

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Eight more judges and two court registrars are now under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over corruption-related cases.

Those who have been implicated in the investigations are to be arrested and charged to court in due course, an official disclosed yesterday.

The commission, which denied any rift with the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said that only one of the judges recently arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) featured in its investigations.

EFCC described as untrue a story in a national daily which suggested that the AGF was uncomfortable with how the commission handled petitions sent to it, as such, the resort to the DSS.

“In this regard, EFCC is currently investigating eight judges and two court registrars. Some of the suspects who have been invited have made statements that have been of great assistance to the investigations. In due course, those who have cases to answer would be arrested and charged to court,” the commission said.

The Head, Media and Publicity of EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, said: “EFCC wishes to put on record that there is no friction with the office of the AGF and the Commission is not involved in inter-agency squabbles with the DSS.”

And as the controversy over the arrest of judges continues, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Samson Uwaifo yesterday called for the strengthening of the National Judicial Council (NJC) to redeem the image of the third arm of government.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has affirmed its earlier position that the arrests and detention of the judges was unlawful and unconstitutional.

The Bar cautioned that the judiciary should not be exposed to ridicule, shame and intimidation by security operatives under the guise of fighting corruption.

President of the Association, Abubakar Mahmud (SAN), who spoke yesterday evening, insisted that the invasion of the houses of justices and judges in the middle of the night by masked security operatives was improper and uncivilised.

According to Mahmud, the NBA is engaging stakeholders on how to win the war against corruption in the judiciary. The reason, he said, a task force, which would be announced today was set up to come up with details on how to deal with erring judges.

The task force is headed by former presidents of the association, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) and Olisa Agbakoba (SAN).

It also comprises former attorneys general of the federation and other former presidents of NBA, including Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, Joseph Daudu, Chief Kanu Agabi and Chief Akin Olujimi.

The committee is expected to make recommendations for stronger disciplinary action against erring judicial officers, which will be passed on to the NJC for strengthening.

And after three days of silence, the National Judicial Council (NJC) yesterday came out openly to condemn the clampdown on some judicial officers.

In a statement issued late yesterday, the body expressed grave concern about the invasion of the residences and arrest of some serving and suspended judicial officers by the Department of State Services (DSS) and condemned the action in its entirety.

The Council also unanimously agreed to recommend Justice W. S. N. Onnoghen, as the most senior, suitable and competent Justice of the Supreme Court to President Muhammadu Buhari, for appointment as the next Chief Justice of Nigeria to succeed Justice Mahmud Mohammed GCON who retires from office on November 10.

NJC said it viewed the action “as a threat to the independence of the judiciary, which portends great danger to our democracy; and also considered the action as a clear attempt by the DSS to humiliate, intimidate, denigrate and cow the judiciary”.

The judicial council said that contrary to the claim by the DSS and as published in the electronic and print media, “Council has never received any petition against the aforesaid judicial officers: Hon. Justices Ngwuta and Okoro of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, by the DSS.”

In the statement, the NJC states: “That the National Judicial Council is a creation, by virtue of Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, with its powers specified in Paragraph 21 of Part One of the Third Schedule whereof;

“That by virtue of Section 160 of the 1999 Constitution, council fashioned out judicial discipline regulations; revised NJC guidelines and procedural rules for the appointment of judicial officers of all superior courts of record; code of conduct for judicial officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; and national judicial policy to inter-alia, regulate its own procedure while exercising its constitutional Powers; and

”That Section 158 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, has unequivocally provided for the independence of the National Judicial Council vis-à-vis directing or controlling it by any authority or person while exercising its powers.”

The council “reiterated its absolute confidence in President Muhammadu Buhari administration and its unwavering determination to uphold the principles of democracy, separation of powers and the rule of law enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, as amended and the United Nations Charter, which Nigeria is a member.”

NJC pledged to continue to support the President Buhari administration in its fight against corruption in all its ramifications in the federation; and in cleansing the judiciary of corrupt judicial officers.

Judges have no immunity against arrest – Sagay

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Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), said yesterday that cash now dictates justice in the country.

Besides, the Constitution lawyer also said judges are not immune from arrests as there is no law granting such privilege. The Department of State Services (DSS) last weekend arrested some judges nationwide.

In a statement yesterday which contained his reaction, Sagay said the “expanding epidemic of judicial corruption” had destroyed the veil of invincibility judges once possessed.

“The searches of the premises of judges by the DSS is a sad development in our legal history brought about by inevitable circumstances.

“Although no judge had ever been subjected to search of premises and arrest, from the colonial period until recently, this was not because there was any law protecting judges’ immunity against arrest and criminal prosecution. Rather, it was based on a convention arising from the need to respect the dignity and sanctity of the judiciary.

“In other words, the practice of respect for members of the judiciary was a convention, not a binding Rule of Law. Members of the judiciary do not enjoy immunity against searches and arrests under any law. Therefore, the sustenance of sanctity of the person, office and residence of a judge depended on the continued maintenance by the judge of decorum, dignity, honesty and integrity.

“The explosive and expanding epidemic of judicial corruption, which has taken an alarming character since the 2007 elections, has totally overturned the culture of respect for the judiciary and brought the revered institution into disrepute and ignominy.

“The epic and corrosive nature of the problem has made the system expressly laid down for dealing with judicial indiscipline, that is, the National Judicial Council (NJC) system, totally ineffective. The level of moral depravity and the enormous number of culprits engaged in aggressive or rampaging corruption was just too much for the orthodox system of discipline to deal with.

“The amount of raw cash recovered in the process of the DSS searches is mind-boggling. We, therefore, have a situation in which a deadly disease was threatening the very existence of democracy and the Rule of Law.

“The question must be: do we take drastic and unprecedented steps to sanitise the judiciary and save the institution from those who are prepared to drag it and our democracy down for filthy lucre? Or do we twiddle our fingers in despair and let the shameful erosion and retrogression of a once famous and revered institution to go on?

“This is a country that once had one of the greatest judiciaries in the world. It now seems unbelievable that our judicial benches were once graced by legendary figures like J.I.C. Taylor, Louis Mbanefo, Joseph Adefarasin, Adetokunbo Ademola, Akinola Aguda, Anthony Aniagolu, Kayode Eso, Mohammed Bello, Chukwuweike Idigbe, Andrews Otutu Obaseki, Augustine Nnamani, Adolphos Karibi-Whyte and Chukwudifu Oputa. Between 1980 and 1990, we had an outstanding group of jurists in the Supreme Court, who created the golden age of the judiciary.

“What has happened between that dreamlike era and now is a rapid descent into the world of mammon, where cash dictates justice. With that degeneration of our judicial standards, our judicial ‘gods’ have descended from mount Olympus and joined the ranks of ordinary men and thus are suffering the fate of ordinary men.”

Two More Judges Arrested As DSS Freezes Accounts

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Two more judges were yesterday arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS), taking the number of judges so far picked up to nine.

Justices Bashir Sukola and Ladan Manir of the Kaduna State High Court, were arrested in Kaduna and taken to the DSS Headquarters in Abuja at about 8.30pm.

A top source said they were immediately taken in for interrogation.

Six other judges are under probe.

The DSS, it was learnt yesterday, has frozen the accounts of some of the judges under investigation.

In some of the accounts are “huge lodgments”, a source said yesterday.

The agency has received more petitions against the judges. Many of the petitioners, it was learnt, are willing to testify against them.

There were strong indications last night that the judges might be arraigned in court next week because the DSS has set a deadline in order not to extend the investigation of the judges beyond this week.

All of them are to face trial, the source said.
Under probe are two Supreme Court Justices – Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro – the suspended Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya, who was picked up in Sokoto; Justice Adeniyi Ademola (Federal High Court); the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice I. A. Umezulike; Justice Kabiru Auta of Kano State High Court; and Justice Muazu Pindiga (Gombe State High Court).

The source, who spoke in confidence because he is not allowed to talk to the media about the investigation, said: “Some accounts have been frozen through orders of the court. This affects some of the judges. Not all of them.

“We found some huge lodgements that are questionable in some accounts and in addition to that we also observed the inflow of their salaries over a long period without them making any withdrawal at all.

“What that means is that they don’t live on their salaries at all. Those accounts have been frozen but as I said not all of the judges are affected.”

On why the judges were yet to be charged to court, the source added: “We are waiting for the action of the NJC. We expect the NJC to suspend them, otherwise it’s like taking a sitting judge to court.

“In the Service, when anybody is being investigated for any serious crime, the first thing we do is to place such a person on suspension.

“After the investigation, such a person would face trial and get dismissed from service on conviction and later face prosecution in the law court.”

Asked what will happen if they are not suspended, the source quipped: “The NJC does not have the luxury not to suspend them.

“We wrote the NJC on Monday but we haven’t received any response.”

There has been a rumour of a hot exchange of words between the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed and the Director-General of the DSS, Mr. Lawan Daura on Monday during a session with the President. “There was no such meeting,” the source said.

The secret service is said to have discovered that a governor, who is sympathetic to the judges, was behind the online publications against the DG of DSS.

The source said: “There is no truth in that at all. There was never such a meeting. The President does not even have such luxury of time.

“Maybe what they are referring to was the visit of the Chief Justice to the DSS headquarters on Sunday afternoon.

“The CJN paid a solidarity visit to the detained judges and expressed some concern. He probably saw the DG too when he learnt that he was in his office at the time of his visit.

“The CJN did not even know that they would be released on bail later that Sunday evening.

“We know it is the handwork of a governor to launch vitriolic media attacks on the DSS. We also know those being used. But Nigeria is greater than all.”

The source gave insights into more petitions being received against the judges by those described as “victims” of bribe.

He expressed confidence that the trial of the judges might begin next week because the DSS has set a timeline to conclude the investigation on or before the end of the week.

The source said: “We are almost through with investigation. The ongoing investigation is not supposed to go beyond this week.

“We have written the NJC about what has happened and we expect the NJC to take some decisions about the affected judges this week. Once that is done, hopefully by next week or thereabouts, we should arraign them in court.

“For now more facts in the form of petitions are coming in about the judges. It’s like everyone who has had cause to go to court for one reason or the other has been a victim.

“Some victims have even indicated their readiness to testify in court.”

The source added that contrary to insinuations, steps were taken to accord the seven judges arrested at the weekend the desired respect before their arrest and while they were in custody.

The sourced added: “Justice Ademola Adeniyi requested that his lawyer should be present before his residence could be searched.

“The counsel came, examined the search warrant and confirmed the validity of the warrant. He thereafter asked the judge to cooperate with the DSS team.

“Some of the judges also allowed their lawyers to witness the search of their homes.”

Expect large scale probes of judges, others – Presidency

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Strong indications emerged Wednesday night that more court judges would soon be picked up by the anti-graft agencies in the country for questioning on allegations of corruption and gratification, Vanguard has learnt.

This is coming on the heels of marching orders by president Muhammadu Buhari to widen the scope of investigations in the judiciary.

But speaking to Vanguard,  a presidency source who craved anonymity said that the president doesn’t have to order the anti-graft institutions such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions, EFCC before they could do their statutory assignments.

The source who assured that the president would never interfere in the investigation process however stated that there was no stopping of the probes, stressing that it was going to be a large scale exercise.

The source also confirmed that president Buhari has received the report of the meeting of the National Judicial Council, NJC on the earlier sanctioned judges.

“He doesn’t need to approve anything. The DSS and EFCC are independent. They can do their jobs. But I can tell you that the president won’t interfere with the investigation. That’s the kind of president we have. “There is no stopping of the probes.

This is going to be a large scale thing. Yes, the president has received the report of the earlier meeting from the NJC but not the one they are concluding today. I don’t about it”, the source said.

EXCLUSIVE: Court issued Search Warrants used in nabbing corrupt judges released.

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As mixed reactions continues to trail the arrest of Judges by the Department of State Security Service (DSS), evidences have emerged that the action of the Nigerian secret police was actually backed by the Search Warrants that were duly issued by the Magistrate Court of Abuja.
These documents were retrieved by Omojuwa.Com from an undisclosed source.
Below are copies of the issued warrants obtained by the SSS before the embarked on the raid on the allegedly corrupt judges:
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Nigerians ‘Flood SSS With Petitions’ Against Judges, Demand Wider Probe.

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Nigerians who in the past questioned the conduct of many judges, but had no way of prompting investigations despite having evidence of wrongdoing, are inundating the State Security Service with petitions after last weekend’s arrest of seven judges, security sources said Wednesday.

The petitioners accuse the judges of fraud and want the SSS to widen its investigation beyond judges already penciled down for probe and possible prosecution.

“It’s like everyone who has had cause to go to court for one reason or the other has been a victim,” one SSS source told PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday.

The revelation came as the SSS worked to consolidate evidence ahead of the arraignment of the judges arrested in a nationwide anti-corruption sweep between Friday and Saturday, officials said.

Seven judges were taken into custody after the raid conducted simultaneously in six-states, including Abuja.

Supreme Court judges, Inyang Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta were arrested in Abuja. Federal High Court judges, Adeniyi Ademola and Mohammed Tsamiya were also arrested in Abuja.

Others arrested included, Kabir Auta, Kano; Muazu Pindiga, Gombe; and Innocent Umezulike in Enugu.

The judges were released on Monday after initial plans to arraigned them stalled for reasons not disclosed by the secret police.

But PREMIUM TIMES gathered from sources at the agency’s headquarters on Wednesday afternoon that the jurists will start facing trial from next week.

The sources said the SSS had dispatched proofs of its allegations against the judges to the National Judicial Council for action.

“We have written the NJC about what has happened and we expect the NJC to take some decisions about the affected judges this week,” one source said. “Once that is done, hopefully by next week or thereabout, we should arraign them in court.”

The NJC is constitutionally charged with the task of investigating and sanctioning erring judges.

The agency hopes that the NJC members, led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mahmud Mohammed, will recommend sanctions against the judges based on the evidence of graft tendered against them.

The SSS said it found large sums of money, denominated in naira and other foreign currencies, from the judges’ homes during the raid.

If the NJC finds the evidence by the SSS sufficient, the judges could be dismissed, opening the way for security agencies to arrest and prosecute them.

“The ongoing investigation is not supposed to go beyond this week,” the sources said.

The sources said many Nigerians were supportive of the crackdown by flooding the SSS with damning petitions, with some who had been a victim of abuse of court processes expressing their willingness to testify against the judges.

The sources said the allegations contained fascinating facts that could go a long way in nailing the judges in the court of law.

“More facts are trickling in and we cannot ignore them. It is our statutory responsibility to investigate painstakingly every complaint.

“Some victims have even indicated their readiness to testify in court,” the sources said.

The sources said operatives also uncovered how some of the judges engaged in assets declaration fraud in the course of their investigation.

“The kind of things we observe as regards the forms they submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau is another kettle of fish.

“We discovered a judge filled three different forms with different information either in terms of assets declared or even personal information like age.

“Imagine one judge filling three different forms with different information just to deceive,” the source said.

The clampdown has continued to generate intense debate amongst Nigerians.

While some see the action of the SSS as a welcome development needed to address corruption in the country’s judiciary, others express concerns that the tactics employed by the agency amounts to intimidation and violates the principle of separation of powers.

Corruption: VP Osinbajo backs judges’ arrest.

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Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has backed the arrest of some judges by the Department of State Services (DSS). He maintained that courts remain public resource, hence the need for judges to be held accountable for their performances.

He spoke while representing President Muhammadu Buhari at the opening of the 46th yearly conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), which featured participants from the United Kingdom and other African countries. The theme of the conference was “Accountability Now, Nigeria.”

Osinbajo explained that performance has been so low in Nigeria because public officials are not held accountable. He told ICAN members who often are charged with public finances to raise their accountability a lot more to ensure increased performance.

According to him: “Those who handle public or private resources must account for their performance because lack of performance can hold down a country. Courts are a public resource, therefore judges and lawyers like every other public or private officials must be held accountable for their responsibilities. We must be able to hold ourselves accountable for the responsibilities that we are charged with.

Besides, at the ongoing 22nd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, the Vice President assured local manufacturers, business owners and foreign investors that the current administration remains focused on improving the business environment.

According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said the administration was ‘seriously’ tackling issues relating to local production, employment generation and all that would be needed to re-energize the economy.

Osinbajo has also disclosed that the Federal Government would commence the disbursement of loans ranging from N60, 000 to N100, 000 to artisans, traders and market women under its micro credit scheme at the end of this month.

Giving the indication at the Presidential Villa yesterday, Osinbajo disclosed that “we expect before the end of the month, to engage 200,000, out of the 500,000 unemployed graduates the Buhari administration plans to hire in the N-Power jobs programme.”

SR: “Mary Odili Wept, Begged Supreme Court Judges To Accept N5b Bribe”

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SaharaReporters has obtained a full list of all the Nigerian judges facing a nationwide clampdown by the Department of State Security (DSS).

The list, which includes two of the Supreme Court Justices who have already been arrested, includes three Justices of the Court of Appeal, seven Federal High Court justices and four state High Court judges in Kano, Gombe, and Kaduna states.

The document, which formed the basis for the clampdown on the judges, contains a brief explanation as to why the cleansing of the judiciary should commence with the listed judges. “Pursuant to the current administration’s drive to fight corruption at all levels, and following public revulsion at some section of the judiciary on acts bordering on dishonesty, corruption, and abuse of judicial process, a profile of some senior judicial officers alleged to be involved in corrupt practices has been compiled”, the reported prepared by the DSS stated.

The document explains in graphic detail how Supreme Court justices were compromised during the election petition ruling relating to Governor Nysom Wike of Rivers state.

Although only two judges of the Supreme Court have so far been arrested by the DSS, the documents named a full panel of Supreme Court justices that sat to decide the Rivers state election case.

The document stated that the Supreme Court judgement which gave Governor Wike victory against the Court of Appeal ruling which had reversed Governor Wike election was delivered on January 27th, 2016 and the full judgement further delivered on February 12th, 2016 by a panel that was led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Muhammad Mahmud.

Other panel members named included Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, Nwali Sylvester Ngwuta, Kumai Byang Akaahs, Kudirat Motonmori Olatokumbo kekere-kun, John Inyang Okoro and Amiru Sanusi. Justice Kekere-Ekun delivered a unanimous decision validating Wike’s election.

The document reveals that the CJN constituted the panel on the very day of the judgement in an attempt to frustrate those waiting to induce members of the panel.

It also reveals that despite the strategy adopted by the Chief Justice, the panel received monetary inducement through Justice Mary Odili who, although a member of the Court, was not on the panel.

Justice Odili, according to the confidential report, became dramatic and reportedly wept before her colleagues on the panel, saying that if Wike were not returned as governor, she would prematurely become a widow as her husband, Peter Odili is a former governor of the state, and Wike’s godfather would have a heart attack.

Governor Wike has publicly acknowledged the role of the Odilis in restoring his mandate as governor. During a thanksgiving to mark his victory, he said that had the election been nullified, he would not have re-contested, claiming he was close having a heart attack as his blood pressure was rising.

The report obtained by SaharaReporters does not say how much each of the Supreme Court judges received. It does state that the same amount had been offered to the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, who rejected it, saying she feared that all eyes would be on her.

Dr. Odili on Tuesday took out an N6billion lawsuit against APC candidate Dakuku for his statement concerning Wike’s praise of his role in getting him a favorable legal ruling.

DSS Releases All The Detained Judges

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The State Security Service has released all the judges arrested during a nationwide sweep between Friday and Saturday, PREMIUM TIMES can report. Sources in the agency said all the seven judges were released on self-recognition.

“They were all released on bail yesterday(Sunday) on self recognition,” one of our sources said.
“They reported this morning (Monday) and they have all gone back home. They will be coming back tomorrow. And everything went very procedurally well and civil.

“They were released on bail on self recognition based on the fact that given their standing in the society, they cannot run away. They were instructed that they should come back today by 10am.

“They did report for investigation this morning and they have gone back home. And the investigation continues and preparation to charge them to court continued.”

The source added, “Also, action was sequel to lack of cooperation by National Judicial Council. Such as refusal by the NJC to allow the affected persons to be questioned by the DSS. Investigation started some seven months ago, precisely in April 2016.”
The crackdown has continued to generate mixed reactions across the country.

More details soon…

BREAKING: Judges Boycott Courts In Abuja To Protest Arrest Of Colleagues

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Judges in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Monday abandoned their various duty posts to protest last weekend’s arrest of their colleagues in different parts of the country on allegations of corruption.

The Department of State Security (DSS), which carried out the arrests, claimed to have found incriminating documents and foreign currencies in the homes of the affected judicial officers.

The journalists who besieged the Magistrate court located at the Life Camp in Abuja as early as 8:00 am to cover the arraignment of the arrested judges waited endlessly as the case neither came up nor did the judges appear.

It was gathered that some of the judges boycotted the courtroom in solidarity with their colleagues, and were attending a meeting at the FCT High Court in Maitamawhere a position will be taken either to declare a total boycott of the courts or to maintain a neutral posture in the matter.

One of the lawyers who spoke to journalists, Princewell Ebubedike berated the action of the judges saying it would amount to aiding and abetting corruption in the judiciary, which is the last hope of the common man, thereby eroding public confidence in the justice system. He condemned the manner in which the security agents made their arrests without proper recourse to procedure.

Fresh Revelations: NJC Actually Facilitated The Arrest Of Seven Judges

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As mixed reactions continues to trail the arrest of Judges by the Department of State Security Service (DSS), indications have emerged that the action of the Nigerian secret police was actually bolstered by the attitude of the National Judicial Council (NJC).

Critics have opined that the DSS ought to have sought the consent and intervention of the NJC before arresting the judicial officers over crimes bordering on corruption and professional misconduct, a position that human rights lawyer, Effiong Inibehe disagrees with.

Inibehe said the NJC cannot and should not usurp the constitutional cum statutory functions of the law enforcement agencies to investigate crimes, arrest, detain or prosecute any person, including judicial officers, for alleged crimes.

But giving details into events that led to the arrest, a top Security said is quoted as saying that the arrest of the judges took a dramatic turn weekend because of the National Judicial Council (NJC) refusal to allow the DSS question the affected judges.

The weekend raid was “sequel to lack of cooperation by National Judicial Council; such as refusal by the NJC to allow the affected persons to be questioned by the DSS.”

He said the graft investigation against the judges “started some seven months ago, precisely in April 2016.”

Meanwhile, the DSS has released the seven Judge arrested during a nationwide sweep between Friday and Saturday.

They were reportedly released Sunday night on personal recognition.

“They reported this morning (Monday) and they have all gone back home. They will be coming back tomorrow. And everything went very procedurally well and civil.

“They were released on bail on self recognition based on the fact that given their standing in the society, they cannot run away. They were instructed that they should come back today by 10am.

“They did report for investigation this morning and they have gone back home. And the investigation continues and preparation to charge them to court continued.”

Nigeria seizes $800,000 in ‘anti-corruption raids’ on judges – BBC News

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Nigeria’s security agency says it has seized $800,000 (£645,200) in cash in raids targeting senior judges suspected of corruption.

The DSS agency says the raids were carried out in recent days and several judges were arrested.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) accused the authorities of carrying out a “Gestapo-style” operation, demanding the release of those arrested.

President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged to tackle widespread corruption.

In a statement, the DSS said: “The searches have uncovered huge raw cash of various denominations, local and foreign currencies, with real estate worth several millions of naira and documents affirming unholy acts by these judges.

“We have been monitoring the expensive and luxurious lifestyle of some of the judges as well as complaints from the concerned public over judgment obtained fraudulently and on the basis (of) amounts of money paid.”

The statement said the judges were from the supreme, appeal and high courts.

The names of the suspects have not been released.

Reacting to the raids, the NBA called on President Buhari to “immediately caution all the state security agencies and to respect the rule of law”.

NBA head Abubakar Mahmoud told reporters: “We are not under military rule and we cannot accept this unholy event and Gestapo-style operation.”

Since taking office last year, Mr Buhari has vowed to tackle the rampant official corruption, which has stunted economic growth across the country, the BBC’s Martin Patience in Nigeria says.

As part of that campaign a number of former senior officials have been charged. But their cases have largely stalled in the courts.

Widespread corruption within the legal system makes it extremely difficult to convict powerful individuals, our correspondent adds

Judges arrests: Lawyers trade words on DSS raid

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Some Abuja-based lawyers have condemned the arrest and invasion of homes of judges by the Department of State Services (DSS).

The lawyers spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in separate interviews in Abuja on Sunday.

While some decried the invasion of the homes of the judges at night, others described it as a step in the right direction.

The critics said that the DSS had no right to invade the houses of the judges because the allegations had nothing to do with national security.

Mr Auta Maisamari said that the constitution provided ways to deal with erring judicial officers.

According to him, if there is any allegation of professional misconduct it is the duty of the National Judicial Council (NJC).to investigate and discipline such erring judges.

“When the NJC establishes case against them it is either they are dismissed or forced into retirement and the judicial immunity will have been removed in this regard.

“I am in support of President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption, but the fight must follow due process.

Another lawyer, Mr Audu Mammah, said that there were better ways to handle cases of corruption and professional misconduct as alleged by the DSS.

He said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should have been the one to come into this matter and not the DSS as this had nothing to do with breach of national security.

“This is very bad for the current leadership of the DSS and does not speak good of the administration at all in this democratic era.

“Government institution should adhere strictly to their core mandate,

“DSS has no business in invading the justices’ houses based on the allegations they got because that is not their core mandate,” Mamman said.

Mr Ikubanni Oluwayomi, said the appropriate and constitutional procedure where any judge was alleged to have committed wrong while sitting as a judge was to petition the NJC.

He said “NJC is a body recognised by the constitution to investigate such judicial officers and determine the veracity or otherwise of the allegations.

“If the mode of arrest is wrong, including if arrest was effected by a wrong security agency, it may defeat the interest of justice as we are not in the military era where rule of law may be thrown over board.

“The houses of the justices were broken into at about 2 a.m. in the night; how can a warrant of arrest be executed at 2 a.m?

“And there is no evidence to show that the justices were first summoned but they refused to obey the summon.

“The alleged offence among others of the justices is one of corruption and the duties of the DSS does not extend to making of arrest in corruption, ” Oluwayomi said.

But, some female lawyers said that there was nothing wrong in any endeavour to sanitise the sector.

They told NAN that if there must be fundamental change in the country, the starting point should be the judiciary.

Mrs Chinelo Eruchalu said that the rot in the judiciary should be cleansed, adding that it must start from somewhere.

“In handling this, it must be within the ambit of the law, it is long overdue and I support the move.” she said.

Eruchalu said that the judiciary had allowed itself to be used by both the politicians and the influential in the society.

“Our society should be healed from the cancerous sore called corruption, which has eaten deeply into the fabric of our society.

“What is now going on in the judiciary is a step in the right direction which should be encouraged and supported by all well meaning citizens of this country,” she said.

Another lawyer, Mrs Jumoke Idowu, who described the sanitisation as a step in the right direction, said the fight against corruption in the judiciary should not be selective.

“Let this fight against corruption in the judiciary be fought with honesty and sincerity of purpose. Let it not be another vendetta or witch hunt.

“Everyone involved in corruption must pass through the sword of justice and if found wanting should be treated in accordance with the dictates of the law.

“This calls for an upright disciplinary mechanism which cannot be easily compromised,” she said.

NJC Meets As More Supreme Court Justices Face Imminent Arrest

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The sting operations carried out by the Department of State Services (DSS) against some judges across the country are not over yet, as more judges will be arrested and likely prosecuted for bribe taking in the next few days or weeks, a senior intelligence officer told THISDAY in Abuja last night.

The DSS had on Friday night carried out sting operations in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Gombe and Kano, hauling in two justices of the Supreme Court, one justice of the Court of Appeal and four other judges of the Federal High Court, suspected to have engaged in bribery and large scale corruption.

The operations, however, attracted angry reactions from the public, particularly the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), which declared a state of emergency in the judicial sector, saying the rule of law was under siege even as the National Judicial Council (NJC) meets today to deliberate on the development.

THISDAY checks close to the NJC, the body responsible for the appointment and discipline of judicial officers, suggested that the suspected judicial officers under investigation might be suspended pending the determination of the accusations against them.

Yesterday, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) joined the fray on the side of the embattled judicial officers, accusing President Muhammadu Buhari of preparing the ground for fascism by ordering the arrests of the judges.

But the Presidency in its reaction gave assurances that President Buhari reserved his highest respect for the judiciary as the third arm of government.

A statement yesterday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, said the president would not do anything to undermine its independence.

Shehu said: “Buhari remains a committed democrat, in words and in his actions, and will not take any action in violation of the constitution.

“The recent surgical operation against some judicial officers is specifically targeted at corruption and not at the judiciary as an institution.

“In a robust democracy such as ours, there is bound to be a plurality of opinions on any given issue, but there is a convergence of views that the country has a corruption problem that needs to be corrected.”

The Presidency regretted that reports by a section of the media were giving it cause for concern.

According to it, “In undertaking the task of reporting, the media should be careful about the fault lines they open. It is wrong to present this incident as a confrontation between the executive and judicial arms of government.

“The presidency has received assurances from the DSS that all due processes of the law, including the possession of search and arrest warrants were obtained before the searches.

“To suggest that the government is acting outside the law in a dictatorial manner is to breach the interest of the state.”

THISDAY intelligence source, however, said apart from those being detained and interrogated, another eight judges, including two justices of the Supreme Court, are also being investigated for mind-boggling corruption cases.

He said a total of seven judges, including two justices of the Supreme Court — Justice John Inyang Okoro and Justice Sylvanus Ngwunta — are still being interrogated by the security services at its headquarters in Abuja and might be charged to court anytime from today.

“A total of 15 judges are being investigated by the Department of State Services and other security agencies. Seven of them are currently being interrogated at the DSS headquarters in Abuja and may be charged to court as from Monday,’’ the source stated, adding: “While another eight including one or two from the Supreme Court are still being investigated and more of the judges will be arrested in the next few days or weeks.’’

The judges being detained include: Justice Muhammad Ladan Tsamiya of the Court of Appeal; Justice Kabiru Auta in Kano; Justice Muazu Pindiga who was arrested in Gombe; the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Justice Ibrahim Auta, and Justice Adeniyi Ademola.

The intelligence source said that none of the judges arrested during the DSS’ sting operations between Friday and the early hours of Saturdayhad been released.

“The seven judges being detained and interrogated have not been released; their statements are still being taken; they are cooperating with the interrogators. The interrogation is taking more time than expected because of the many questions the arrested judges need to answer,’’ the source said.

THISDAY gathered that the sting operations carried out against the suspects were the accumulation of many events, linked to “mind-boggling corrupt practices and the willingness, determination and desire by the security agents to fight corruption head-on”.

Justifying the operations of the DSS, the source said: “If not DSS who else? There is nothing unusual about the DSS’ actions; it is normal. The security institution acted within the law guarding its operations.

“The actions of the suspected judges border on national security. We are talking about huge corrupt practices and national security that are beyond the mandate of the EFCC and the ICPC.

“If we talk about democracy — from the conduct of election to election rigging; issues of foreign investments; economy and other issues that have to do with our national security, they all end up in courts. So anybody or institution that tries to undermine that institution is toying with the national security of our dear nation.’’

In the eyes of the law, the intelligence officer said, the suspects were not above the law and didn’t have immunity from being investigated or prosecuted, explaining that they were ordinary people like every other citizen.

He said the DSS acted based on petitions it received against the judges. “We have a situation where one of the judges was so foolish that he entered a departmental store to collect a bribe from a litigant. We have the evidence including video recording,’’ the source stated.

Reacting to several criticisms against the DSS’ action, the intelligence source added that the agency was ready to defend its action in competent court of law, challenging whoever felt aggrieved to take the DSS to court.

“During the sting operations, huge amount of monies, some in foreign currencies, were collected from some of the judges and they all signed the exhibits recovered in their houses.

The DSS has strong evidence to charge them to court and that will be done as soon as the interrogation is concluded,’’ the source added.
Responding to the press statement by the leadership of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), which some observers said might create tension in the country, the senior intelligence officer said:

“There is no tension at all. Whoever threatens national security of the nation will be dealt with.

“Gone are the days where those on the wrong side will turn around to intimidate us. That will never happen again in this country.’’

Apparently responding to the acclaimed illegality of the action of the DSS, the source said that a search warrant was obtained before the sting operations were carried out in the affected places, adding that “a warrant signed by a magistrate court can be executed even in the villa”.

Nigerians Condemn NBA’s Threat Over Judges’ Arrest

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Some Nigerians have condemned the threat by the leadership of Nigeria Bar Association to Nigerians over the arrest of some judges for alleged corruption and professional misconduct.

Those who made the call in interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria in Makurdi on Sunday urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to succumb to pressure but to ensure that the judges faced the law.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the State Security Services, DSS, on Friday night arrested some judges for alleged corruption.

The agency stated that it recovered huge sums in local and foreign currencies from the judges.
Following their arrest, the leadership of NBA headed by Abubakar Mahmoud at a news conference, demanded the judges’ immediate release on the ground that due process was not followed in their arrest.

The association said, “It is not the responsibility of DSS to arrest judges.”
It described the action of the agency as unconstitutional and a way of intimidating the judiciary and undermining its independence.
“President Muhammadu Buhari should order immediate release of the affected judges or there would be consequences,” NBA said.

Some of those who responded to the threat accused NBA of encouraging corruption, adding that it was an indication that “corruption is fighting back” against the anti-corruption campaign of the government .

They said the action of NBA had vindicated the president, who had said that the judiciary was a major hindrance to the fight against corruption.

A resident of Makurdi, James Audu, wondered why NBA would ask the Federal Government to immediately release the judges.
“I am not sure I understand why the NBA is asking the Federal Government to order the immediate release of some judges that have been arrested over allegations of corruption.
“Were they arrested without warrants? Is it unlawful to investigate a judge on allegations of corruption? Or are our laws meant to be obeyed by some people while others breach them and go free?
“Do judges also enjoy immunity under our laws? Are judges not subject to our laws?
‘’Is there no rule of law here or are judges above the law?” he asked.

Another resident, Shidoon Agbe, said the judges should be prosecuted according to the law.
Ms. Agbe said that it was a shame that a respected legal body, such as NBA, would allow itself to be used by corrupt politicians to achieve their goals.

“The Nigerian Constitution does not make provision for judges’ immunity neither does it exclude them from investigations.
“In fact, even the Mr President can be investigated while still in office,” she said.
Ms. Agbe said that in other parts of the world judges were arrested and tried like other citizens.
“Few months ago, South African President was investigated and tried even with his immunity and nobody complained about it.
‘’Examples of cases of this nature are too many to mention.

“This is a legal issue, all we expected of NBA during their press conference was for them to clearly quote the various sections of the constitution that prohibit security agencies from investigating and arresting judges,” she said.

SSS official releases details of how Justice Liman allegedly took bribes

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The ongoing crackdown on senior judges across the country will not end without the arrest of a judge attached to the Port Harcourt Division of the Federal High Court, PREMIUM TIMES learnt late Sunday.

Sources at the State Security Services (SSS, said Mohammed Liman, among other corrupt conducts, allegedly took bribes from Governor Nyesom Wike to give favourable judgment to the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The sources also accused the judge of habitually crossing Nigerian borders to allegedly receive bribes from litigants.

In a nationwide operation, scores of SSS operatives descended on the homes of senior judges between late Friday and Saturday, arresting seven of them after searching their residences.

The development sparked divergent reactions across the country, with some Nigerians and professional bodies condemning the raids.

Most of the critics said the raids were reminiscent of the dark military era which Nigerians assumed had ended with the return of democracy in 1999.

But an undaunted SSS in a statement Saturday said the nocturnal operation yielded recoveries of huge sums of money denominated in different currencies, including the U.S. dollars, euros and British pounds.

On Sunday evening, a top SSS official told PREMIUM TIMES that operatives were still tracking Mr. Liman and would ensure his arrest in the coming days after the initial attempt was thwarted by Mr. Wike.

Mr. Liman is among eight other judges being investigated apart from the seven arrested in the Friday night raids.

The source said Mr. Liman allegedly took bribes to subvert justice in the leadership tussle within the PDP which has left the party factionalised for several months.

Mr. Liman’s July ruling authenticated the Ahmed Makarfi faction? of the PDP which had been deemed illegal by Justice Okon Abang.

The PDP crisis culminated in another botched convention in August, although the opposing parties are currently working to end the quagmire.

“We received a petition that he (Mr. Liman) received bribes to give his ruling and our investigations confirmed it,” a top SSS official told PREMIUM TIMES.

The source added that Mr. Liman is “also a distributor” who receives bribes on behalf of other judges and helps distribute it.

“He travels across the border to Ghana, Republic of Benin and other West African countries to meet lawyers in hotels to take bribes for himself and his colleagues on the bench,” he said.

The source also said the amount involved in Mr. Liman’s botched arrest on Saturday morning was actually $2.5 million, and gave more explanation as to why operatives’ failed to arrest the judge or get the money.

“The vehicle that was used to cart away the $2million was faster than our men’s own,” the source said. “They just couldn’t catch up with them at such a high speed. It’s like chasing a 7-cylinder vehicle with a 3-cylinder.”

“We will arrest him in coming days; we have no doubt about this as we have enough evi?dence to nail him in court. By bringing Governor Wike in, he has worsened his own case.”

But Governor Nyesom Wike whom the SSS blamed for interfering to frustrate the planned Friday night arrest of Mr. Liman, in a statement early Sunday dismissed the allegations as an attempt by the SSS to divert attention from its gross desecration of the constitution.?

The SSS “concocted” the allegations to justify an “unconstitutional assault on the nation’s judiciary,” Mr. Wike said.

Mr. Wike said he didn’t know the judge, but he moved in to prevent him from being taken away because the mode of the SSS arrest did not comply with the dictates of the law.

“In the police, erring and corrupt policemen are first given orderly room trial, sacked and then appropriately prosecuted,” Mr. Wike said. “For judicial officers, the SSS has no role.”

“I am not in support of any judicial support being involved in corruption,” but “this impunity must stop.”

The Nigerian Bar Association, the umbrella organisation of lawyers, condemned the raids as an attempt to intimidate judges and demanded an immediate release of those arrested.

“We are in a democratic society and we cannot accept a situation where armed, masked SSS operatives invade homes of the justices of the Supreme Court and judges of our high courts.

“This is a ploy by the executive to intimidate the judiciary and we will not accept it. The NBA will not accept it. I want to emphasise again that we’re not under military rule and we cannot accept this Gestapo style of operations.” Abubakar Mahmoud, NBA president, said Saturday.

But a senior lawyer, Femi Falana, said the action of the operatives was justified since the bar and the bench had allegedly failed to check corruption in the judiciary.

He called for the prompt trial of the arrested judges.?

President Buhari also said on Sunday that the SSS did not flout the law in its arrest and detention of the judges.

“There is a convergence of views that the country has a corruption problem that needs to be corrected,” Mr. Buhari said in a statement signed by his media aide, Garba Shehu.

DSS did not infringe on the independence and sanctity of the judiciary.

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The argument by some that the sting operations carried by the DSS on homes of senior Judges of the High Court and the Supreme Court last Friday which led to recovery of vast sums of money in various current denominations is an infraction on the independence and sanctity of the judicial branch of government is hogwash.

 

There is no infringement on the independence and sanctity of the judiciary in any manner whatsoever . Judges do not have immunity to do what they like. When a judge collects bribe to pervert the course of Justice is that not in itself an infraction of the independence of the judiciary and a threat to the sanctity of the judiciary? When a judge commits a crime  is both a professional misconduct and a crime.

 

In such a circumstances it is not more the business of the National Judicial Council to deal with it but also a matter for security agencies to handle. The DSS does not need more explanation more than what it had done. NJC has been protecting and covering senior judges!

 

We have evidence and this why we resort to such measures . Justice Tsamiya collected two hundred million as bribe  but NJC inexplicably only recommended his retirement. But another Judge in Kano who collected a bribe of N190 million was ordered to be arrested by the Police by NJC.

 

We heard mind-bogging stories in which judges collect humongous sums of money especially in political and election related cases to pervert the cause of Justice.  It is perverse logic and reasoning for any body to contend that independence of the judicial branch of government means that  the executive branch of government should close it eyes to the infractions of the law and Constitution by Judges.

 

Even in the United States of America, the supposed bastion and sanctuary of constitutional and liberal democracy the FBI ( equivalent of DSS) sometimes carry sting operations to arrest roguish judges! On 5th October 2015 the CBS/Ap reported the arrest of a federal Judge, Judge T. Camp by the FBI in a sting operation for  gun running and illegal drugs involvement with an Atlanta stripper.

Arrest of judges: The DSS, the NBA, the media and the rest of us – Chris Nwaokobia

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The media is awash with insults, invective and repudiation hurled at the DSS and the Govt for the raid on allegedly corrupt Judicial Officers. Even the find of huge cash and documentary details of malfeasance count for nothing to the critics of the DSS and Govt.

I’m compelled to analogize with what obtains in climes truly desirous of breakup with corruption. A year ago a total 34 Judges in Ghana were rounded up for malfeasance, investigated and 20 of them sent packing. The Legal Community and the media did not cry foul or call for boycott of Courts or State Emergency knowing that judicial corruption is grievous.

As a Lawyer, I’m worried that my colleagues are taken by the legalese undermining the full picture. A corrupt, corruptive and corruptible judiciary is evil, it deepens impunity and erodes the right to justice. Where justice is for sale to the highest bidder morality atrophies, the Law suffers, and self-help festers.

Agreed that the Judiciary is an independent arm of Govt, nothing in our Laws forbid the arrest of any person for criminal investigation but the President, the Vice President, a Governor and his Deputy. I therefore advise the NBA to exercise restraint so it does not become a clog in the wheel of an effort to rid the Judiciary of corruption.

I hold without equivocation that Judicial Corruption is the worst kind of corruption, but must add that I expect the DSS, the EFCC and the Police to take similar action on the mind-blowing stench from the National Assembly, the details from Hon. Jibrin should validate such. I also expect a look into the many allegations against our Dear President’s Chief of Staff, and the Secretary to the Federal Govt., now is the time to do right.

God Bless Nigeria.

#COUNTRYFIRST
#SAVEOURFUTURE
#YESWECAN

Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia Jnr

We found $2Million (N960Million) stashed in the house of one of the arrested judges – DSS

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One of the arrested judges had $2Million (N960Million) stashed in his house – DSS STATEMENT

PRESS STATEMENT BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE SERVICES

The Department of State Services (DSS) in the past few days, has embarked on series of special sting operations involving some Judges of the Supreme, Appeal and High Courts. These operations were based on allegations of corruptions and other acts of professional misconduct by a few of the suspected Judges. The Service action is in line with its core mandate, as we have been monitoring the expensive and luxurious lifestyle of some of the Judges as well as complaints from the concerned public over judgment obtained fraudulently and on the basis amounts of money paid.

The judges involved were invited, upon which due diligence was exhibited and their premises searched. The searches have uncovered huge raw cash of various denominations, local and foreign currencies, with real estate worth several millions of Naira and documents affirming unholy acts by these Judges. Meanwhile, some of them have made useful statements while a few have declined even with the glaring evidences that were found against them in terms of material cash, documents and property recovered pointing to their compromise.

In one of the States where the Service operations were conducted, credible intelligence revealed that the Judge had Two Million United States Dollars ($2,000,000 USD) stashed in his house. When he was approached for due search to be conducted, he in concert with the State Governor, mobilized thugs against the Service team. The team restrained itself in the face of unbridled provocative activities by those brought in by the Governor. Unfortunately, the Judge and Governor also engaged the tacit support of a sister security agency.

The Service surveillance team noticed that upon frustrating the operation, the Judge with the active support of the Governor craftily moved the money to an unknown location which the Service is currently making effort to unravel.

Meanwhile, large amount including foreign/local currencies have been recovered. Summaries of these include:

SUMMARY OF RECOVERED MONEY
1. NAIRA – N93,558,000.00
2. DOLLARS – $530,087
3. POUNDS – £25,970
4. EURO – €5,680

Other foreign currencies were also recovered. This were recovered from just three (3) of the judges.

These in addition to other banking documents, including real estate documents have been recovered. Meanwhile preparations are ongoing to arraign them in a competent court of jurisdiction in line with the laws of the nation.

The Service would want to clearly state that it has never invited Justice Walter NKANU ONNOGHEN for investigation, neither is he being investigated by this Service. In addition the Service would like to put it on record, that it has tremendous respect for the Judiciary and would not do anything to undermine it or its activities. The Service will also join hands with this noble institution in its fight to rid it of few corrupt Judges whose actions is undermining not only the Judiciary but the common bond of our national life.

Ladies and gentlemen, this current operation will be sustained and followed till sanity and sanctity is restored to the esteemed third arm of government and public confidence is regained.

Members of the public are also encouraged to avail the Service of any information which could assist in this drive to rid our nation of corrupt practices and tendencies.

THANK YOU.
Abdullahi GARBA,
Department of State Services,
Abuja.
8th October, 2016.

South African Prosecutors Seek Longer Jail Term For Pistorius

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A South African judge on Friday rejected the state’s appeal seeking a longer jail sentence for Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, who is serving a six-year term for killing his girlfriend three years ago.

Thokozile Masipa — the same judge who imposed the sentence last month — said in the High Court in Johannesburg that she was not persuaded there was a “reasonable prospect of success on appeal”.

“The application for leave to appeal against the sentence is dismissed with costs,” she said.

The prosecution had been pushing for a longer sentence against the fallen 29-year-old sprint star over the 2013 murder of Reeva Steenkamp.

“The sentence of six years is shockingly lenient and disturbingly inappropriate,” prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued in court.

Pistorius shot Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, saying he mistook her for a burglar when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet.

At his sentencing in July, Masipa listed mitigating factors for ordering Pistorius to serve less than half the minimum 15-year term for murder, including the athlete’s claim he believed he was shooting an intruder.

“I’m of the view that a long term of imprisonment will not serve justice,” Masipa said then.

– ‘Enough is enough’ –

But Nel argued that the six-year sentence was flawed and that it should be appealed.

“Another court may find that this court misdirected itself,” said Nel.

Masipa was also the judge who had originally convicted Pistorius of the lesser charge of culpable homicide, the equivalent of manslaughter, in 2014.

An appeals court upgraded his conviction to murder in December last year.

Pistorius’s defence said it was an “insult” to suggest that the court’s sentencing had been flawed and that it was time the case came to a close.

“Enough is enough. What does the state want?” defence lawyer Barry Roux said.

“This process has been exhausted beyond the point of exhaustion,” he added, accusing the prosecution of sending Pistorius “like a ping pong ball between courts”.

Pistorius, who pleaded not guilty at his high-profile trial, has always denied killing 29-year-old Steenkamp in a rage, saying he was trying to protect her.

South African media reports earlier this month said that Pistorius had been put on suicide watch following mysterious wrist injuries.

The year before he killed Steenkamp, Pistorius — known as the Blade Runner — became the first double-amputee to race at Olympic level when he appeared at the London 2012 Games.

How Lawyers, Judges Are Slowing Down Nigeria’s Anti-Corruption War- Buhari

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President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said the judiciary arm of government was yet to perform its functions to the satisfaction of Nigerians given the reforms brought about by the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.

Mr. Buhari stated this at the National Judicial Institute, Abuja, while declaring open a Workshop for Nigerian Judges organized by the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption in conjunction with the NJI.

The President also said the Judiciary must take steps to ensure that it was not perceived as being partisan.

He said Judges must be aware of the sensitivities of the public and take steps towards avoiding even a shred of a doubt regarding their independence.

“In justice, integrity is a necessity. Hence, Judicial Officers and all other members of this sector must always demonstrate manifest integrity,” he said.

Mr. Buhari advised the judiciary to be in the forefront of efforts to develop rights-based jurisprudence as an element in the multi-disciplinary approach advocated in the fight against corruption.

He said as an arm of government, the judiciary had a role to play in the fight against corruption by enforcing the applicable laws.

“Critically important also, is the sacred duty of the judiciary to ensure that criminal justice administration is not delayed,” Mr. Buhari said.

“I am worried that the expectation of the public is yet to be met by the judiciary with regard to the removal of delay and the toleration of delay tactics by lawyers.

“When cases are not concluded the negative impression is given that crime pays. So far, the corruption cases filed by government are not progressing as speedily as they should in spite of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of 2015 essentially because the courts allow some lawyers to frustrate the reforms introduced by law,” he said.

Mr. Buhari said the scenario such as the one he painted must change for his administration to succeed in its fight against corruption.

Credit: PremiumTimes

Russian Gamer To Sue Makers Of ‘Fallout 4’ After Losing His Job & Wife To His Addiction

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A Siberian gamer is suing the makers of Fallout-4 after he lost his job and broke up with his wife because of the video game. He wants 500,000 roubles (US$7,000) in compensation from the company, saying he did not know the game would “become so addictive.”
The 28-year-old man from Krasnoyarsk found out about the game in an advert and subsequently downloaded it onto his computer. That was when his problems began in earnest. He only intended to play it for a couple of evenings, but instead became addicted and the next three weeks flew by.

Such was his ‘dedication’ to the game, which sees the player emerge from a bunker following a devastating nuclear holocaust in a post-apocalyptic world, that his own apocalypse unfolded right
before his eyes.
He regularly skipped work, which resulted in his employers firing him. He stopped meeting up and speaking with friends, and his wife left him. His health also started to deteriorate as he was not sleeping or eating.
“If I knew that this game could have become so addictive, I would have become a lot more wary of it. I would not have bought it, or I would have left it until I was on holiday or until the New Year holidays,” a statement from the man read.
The Krasnoyarsk native now wants to sue the makers of the game Bethesda Game Studios and the Russian localization firm for 500,000 roubles ($7,000) for emotional distress.
His lawsuit is seen as something of a test case in Russia, as there has never been such a precedent. The law firm representing the 28-year-old say they want to “see how far we can go regarding this case.”
There have been similar cases around the world though. In 2010, a US federal judge said he would listen to a case brought by a Hawaiian man, who said he became addicted to video game Lineage II.
Craig Smallwood was demanding damages from the game’s makers, saying he would not have begun playing if he had been aware “that he would become addicted to the game.”
Surprisingly, the judge sided with the plaintiff and ordered NCsoft of South Korea to pay Smallwood’s legal fees which he had accumulated over the six-month period after filing his lawsuit.

Source: RussiaToday

Newly Appointed Judges Sworn Into Office (PHOTOS)

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The 30 newly appointed judges for the Federal High Court were sworn-in by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mahmud Mohammed on Wednesday.

PIC.5. CROSS-SECTION OF JUDGES OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT AT THEIR SWEARING IN IN ABUJA ON WEDNESDAY (2/12/15).

PIC.5. CROSS-SECTION OF JUDGES OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT AT THEIR SWEARING IN IN ABUJA ON WEDNESDAY (2/12/15).

 

PIC.7. NEWLY APPOINTED JUDGE OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT, DR NNAMDI DIMGBA, BEING SWORN IN IN ABUJA ON WEDNESDAY (2/12/15). 7420/2/12/2015/JAU/NAN

PIC.7. NEWLY APPOINTED JUDGE OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT, DR NNAMDI DIMGBA, BEING SWORN IN IN ABUJA ON WEDNESDAY (2/12/15).

 

PIC.7. NEWLY APPOINTED JUDGE OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT, DR NNAMDI DIMGBA, BEING SWORN IN IN ABUJA ON WEDNESDAY (2/12/15). 7420/2/12/2015/JAU/NAN

PIC.7. NEWLY APPOINTED JUDGE OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT, DR NNAMDI DIMGBA, BEING SWORN IN IN ABUJA ON WEDNESDAY (2/12/15).

 

PIC.6. A NEWLY APPOINTED JUDGE OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT, MR NEHIZENA EKUNWE, TAKING OATH DURING THE SWEARING IN OF NEW JUDGES OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT IN ABUJA ON WEDNESDAY (2/12/15). 7419/2/12/2015/JAU/NAN

PIC.6. A NEWLY APPOINTED JUDGE OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT, MR NEHIZENA EKUNWE, TAKING OATH DURING THE SWEARING IN OF NEW JUDGES OF THE FEDERAL HIGH COURT IN ABUJA ON WEDNESDAY (2/12/15).

The newly appointed judges are: Justices Yellin Bogoro (Bauchi), Rosemary Oghoghorie (Delta), Taiwo Obayomi Taiwo (Ogun), Ibrahim Watila (Borno), Mallong Hoommuk (Plateau) and Isa Dashen (Adamawa).
Others are; Hassan Dikko (Kebbi), Jude Dagat (Kaduna), Olayinka Tokode (Osun), Simon Amobeda (Kogi), Jane Inyang (Cross River) and Daniel Osiagor (Rivers).
Also on the list are, Prof. Chuka Obiozor (Anambra), Iniekenimi Oweib (Bayelsa), Hassan Sule (Zamfara), Hadiza Shagari (Sokoto), Saleh Idrissa (Yobe) and Joyce Abdulmalik (Edo).
Also appointed are; Hillary Oshomah (Edo), Fadima Aminu (Adamawa), Toyin Adegoke (Kwara), James Omotosho (Ogun), Nehizena Ekunwe (Edo) and Stephen Pam (Plateau).
Others are; Akintayo Aluko (Ekiti), Dr. Nnamdi Dimgba (Abia), Emeka Nwite (Ebonyi), Abdulazeez Anka (Zamfara), Abdu Dogo (FCT) and Adamu Muhammed (Jigawa).

Gov. Lalong Tells Judges To Shun Corruption, Dispense Justice Without Fear Or Favour

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Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau on Tuesday urged judges to shun corrupt tendencies and insist on dispensing justice without fear or favour,
He spoke in Jos at the swearing in of three newly appointed judges into the Plateau judiciary.
“Your role is very crucial to protecting the dignity of the human person; a society without justice cannot stand, so you must strive to ensure that Nigerians get justice at all times,” Lalong said.
He expressed his administration’s commitment toward a strong, vibrant and independent judiciary, and challenged judges as the pillars of that system to live up to expectation.
The governor also reminded them of the crucial role the judiciary was expected to play to ensure good governance, pointing out that it must ensure that other arms deliver on their mandate.
Lalong told the new judges that they had been chosen from a rich reservoir of competent judicial officers the state was endowed with, noting that their appointment was to fulfill conditions set by the National Judicial Council.
“It is a statement of our confidence in your capacity to strengthen the judiciary for efficient and effective service delivery,” he declared.
The judges were Silas Bakfur, Nanpon Dadi and Mrs Nafisatu Lawal.
Justice Bakfur who responded on behalf of others thanked the governor for finding them worthy of the appointment.
He promised that the new officers would adhere strictly to their oaths of office by dispensing justice without fear or favour.

 

 

(NAN)

Man Crowned Winner At Mr Ugly Pageant, Runner-Up Accuses Judges Of Being Bias

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A 42-year-old unemployed man was crowned Zimbabwe’s ugliest man at a pub pageant in Harare — but the contest turned ugly when the runner-up accused judges of bias.

Maison Sere, who was missing several teeth and dressed in torn overalls, beat off five other contestants for the $500 Mr Ugly prize a large sum in a country facing massive unemploment.

“I want to thank God for winning this title, last time I came fourth. I just want to thank the judges for recognising me as the winner,” Sere told journalists during a night of festivities Friday attended by 200 revellers.

But William Masvinu, a three-time Mr Ugly winner who walked off with a $100 second prize this year, cried foul.

“The judges were not fair, the organisers must look for new judges to start the contest afresh. I did not lose today,” Masvinu said.

Show organiser David Machowa said he created the pageant in 2012 to celebrate “beauty in ugliness”.

“The show last night was very successful, and I still have plans to host Mr Ugly world,” he said.

Credit: Yahoo

Ghana Suspends 7 High Court Judges Over Alleged Corruption

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Ghana’s government has suspended seven out of 12 high court judges in the wake of allegations of bribery stemming from a documentary made by an investigative journalist.

The decision is part of a response to a three-hour film first screened in the capital last month that has caused an uproar in the West African country because it showed judges accepting bribe money through intermediaries.

Ghana’s judiciary is revered for its efficacy and impartiality and is viewed as a bulwark of a society that prides itself on its reputation as one of Africa’s most stable and peaceful democracies.

But the documentary put Chief Justice Georgina Wood and other judicial leaders under pressure to show a forceful public response.

“Their suspension follows the establishment of a prima facie case of stated misbehaviour against them by the Hon. Lady Chief Justice (Wood),” said a statement from the Judicial Service announcing a decision by Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur.

Buhari Seeks Fearless Judges To Try Looters

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President Muhammadu Buhari has commenced the process of identifying a few fearless and courageous judges who will be saddled with the responsibility of prosecuting persons who have been found to have stolen national resources, THE PUNCH has learnt.

Buhari had while granting audience to members of the National Peace Committee led by Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar in the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday disclosed that the prosecution of the indicted persons would commence in a matter of weeks.

“Those who have stolen the national wealth will be in court in a matter of weeks and Nigerians will know those who have short-changed them,” the President had told his guests.

Our correspondent however learnt on Sunday that the prosecution would not be open to “just any
judge.”

It was learnt that the President was committed to ensuring that only judges who would expedite action on the cases and would be fearless in discharging their duties would be enlisted for the prosecution.

A source confided in our correspondent that that was one of the assignments Buhari gave to the Prof. Itse Sagay-led Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption which he set up on Monday.

The source said it would not be necessary to set up special courts to try corruption cases since efforts were already underway to identify judges that would key into the President’s dream of ensuring that no looter was left unpunished.

He said, “We do not need to entertain any fear that the prosecution of corruption-related cases will not be fast enough because many of our courts are already weighed down by many cases.

“The truth of the matter is that not all judges will be considered to take up the cases of those who have stolen our commonwealth.

“As a matter of fact, one of the assignments the President gave the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption led by Prof. Sagay is to identify fearless and courageous judges that will handle the cases.

“The idea is to ensure that the judges who will handle the cases will not be just any judges. They must be those who will expedite actions on the cases and discharge their duties with courage.

“You can see that with this development, the issue of special courts for corruption cases may not come. It is about special judges.”

Our correspondent also gathered that Buhari was already considering withdrawing national honours from any individual found to have looted the nation’s treasury.

It was learnt that the President’s position was that the nation should not be seen to be honouring any fruadulent person.

“The President will not hesitate to strip any corrupt person of national honour. Can you honour a person for milking the nation dry? It is irrelevant how long such persons have been bestowed with the national honours, they will be stripped of them,” the source said.

When contacted, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said it was reasonable that anybody found to be corrupt should be stripped of national honours.

Adesina however said such withdrawal of national honours would not be done until affected persons had been convicted by competent courts.

“Although it has not been considered, it is reasonable that those found guilty of corruption should be stripped of national honours bestowed on them. However, this will not be done before conviction,” the presidential spokesman said.

While announcing the establishment of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption on Monday, Adesina had said its brief was to advise the present administration on the prosecution of the war against corruption and the implementation of required reforms in Nigeria’s criminal justice system.

He said the committee was also saddled with the responsibility of developing comprehensive interventions for achieving the recommended reforms.

Source: Punch

Fashion Designer Arrested For Touching Models Inappropriately

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An Australian fashion designer has been arrested and charged with five counts of assault following allegations he groped, harassed and exploited young female models.

It was reported in June that dozens of aspiring models had rallied together to expose the degrading treatment they experienced at the hands of the 31-year-old club promoter and would-be fashion designer, Shardz Hourani.

See Photo of one of his numerous touching body below…
Photos of female models being man-handled by Hourani during a swimwear photo shoot were posted to the Facebook page with the advice to “Say NO to Maniac Fashion”,  The photographs allegedly show Hourani groping the models’ breasts, buttocks and thighs.

Hourani was arrested at a shopping centre in Sydney, where he worked by day as a salesman in a men’s fashion store.

He was taken to Bankstown Police Station and charged with five counts of assault with act of indecency.

Hourani was granted strict conditional bail and is due to appear at Waverley Local Court on 30 July 2015.

In June, Novelli and fellow model Tia Wright said they had experienced appalling and degrading treatment when they posed for Hourani’s swimwear photo shoots.

IGP Mr Solomon Arase, Sets Up Judges Protection Units

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The Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, has directed Command Commissioners of Police to immediately establish “Judges Protection Units’’ (JPU) for the protection of Judges and Courts in their respective areas of jurisdiction.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr Emmanuel Ojukwu, on Thursday in Abuja.

The statement said the units were to ensure that the judiciary had adequate security to carry out their duties.

It also said that the I-G had directed the commissioners to assign Assistant Commissioners of Police in charge of Training and Development to conduct training and orientation for personnel designated for the JPUs.

The statement emphasised that personnel for the assignment must exhibit high sense of professionalism, courage, integrity, discipline and respect for human rights.

It said that Arase had also directed the reduction in the number of police aides attached to Civil Commissioners nationwide.

It will be recalled that Arase, during his maiden meeting with command commissioners of police and other senior officers on April 29, promised to take measures to protect judges. (NAN)

Three UK Judges Sacked For Watching Porn With Court Computers

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District Judge Timothy Bowles, Immigration Judge Warren Grant  and Deputy District Judge and Recorder, Peter Bullock have been dismissed for viewing pornographic materials with the judicial IT equipment in their offices according to UK Judicial Conduct Investigation’s office.

Their conduct has been termed as wholly unacceptable by the Judicial Conduct Investigations office.

The materials the dismissed judges watched didnot include images of children or other illegal contents.

A fourth judge, Recorder Andrew Maw was found to have also watched pornographic materials with his office computers but he resigned before investigations into their conducts were concluded.

The cases happened at different times and different places.