PDP Laments Buhari’s Attack On Judiciary

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) urges the judiciary, as the last hope of the common man, to continue to assert its independence and not allow itself to be deterred from upholding justice and the rule of law, no matter the pressure.

PDP

The judicial community and in fact, all discerning Nigerians were shocked by the release by the Presidency on Sunday wherein President Muhammadu Buhari was quoted to have described the judiciary as the ‘major headache’ of his administration.

This statement is a direct affront on the statutorily guaranteed independence of the judiciary and more worrisome is the fact that a President of a country had to tie back already settled judgments of the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, in cases involving him, as a benchmark of his assessment of the institution of the judiciary at the moment.

While we express worry at the attacks on the judicial arm of government, we are aware that they are intended to blackmail and stampede the judiciary to deliver judgments against the PDP in various pending cases involving our party and some of our leaders in the courts.

While we urge the judiciary to ensure that it adequately guards its flanks from all external influences, we also caution the executive to focus on governance, while respecting the constitutionally guaranteed principle of separation of powers by allowing the judiciary and the legislature indeed, all statutory arms of government to freely operate within the bounds provided by our laws.

Finally, the PDP wishes to call on critical stakeholders to appreciate the fact that the Judiciary, in its nature as an arbiter, cannot join issues with the other arms, and such needs to be defended from the brazen blackmail by the APC-led Government.

PDP Laments Buhari’s Attack On Judiciary

Anti-corruption war: Judiciary, my main headache, says Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday said as far his administration’s ongoing anti-corruption fight was concerned, the nation’s judiciary remained his major headache.

Buhari

He said the fight against corruption in Nigeria could only be effectively tackled with the strong support of the judiciary.

According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President spoke in Addis Ababa at a town hall meeting he held with Nigerians living in Ethiopia.

He said far-reaching reforms of the judiciary remained a key priority for the present administration.

Buhari said his travails in courts during his failed bid for the nation’s Presidency on three occasions, which took him to the Supreme Court three times, were clear indications that the judiciary needed urgent reforms.

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

“If you reflect on what I went through for 12 years, when I wanted to be the President, I attempted three times and on the fourth attempt, through God and the use of technology, it was possible for Nigerians to elect an APC candidate as President.

“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 would be President of Nigeria.”

The President, however, assured members of the Nigerian community that with the support of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, he would continue to do his best to improve on the nation’s judicial administration system.

On urban development and infrastructure, Buhari explained that the Federal Government had ordered a review of several railway projects signed by the previous administration with the Chinese government.

“The Chinese government was very generous to Nigeria on the projects signed with the previous government because they agreed to pay 85 per cent of the project.

“But the Nigerian government was unable to meet up with its counterpart funding of 15 per cent; so, the Chinese government was unable to make any impact on the project,” he said.

Buhari also said he had directed the ministers of Transportation, Finance as well as Power, Works and Housing to revisit the agreements and explore ways of re-approaching the Chinese government for assistance.

He added that the Chinese government had indicated interest to assist Nigeria on project financing through its Export-Import Bank

Commenting on the proposed N6.077tn 2016 budget, which is currently before the National Assembly, the President said for the first time in Nigeria, the budget would be largely financed from non-oil revenues.

He identified the slump in the international oil market price and oil theft in the Niger Delta as main reasons for projecting more revenues to fund the budget from the non-oil sector.

The President said those of them, who participated in the nation’s 30-month civil war that left millions of Nigerians dead, found the belief of Nigerians, who lived in oil-rich areas that the natural resources belonged to them, very irritating.

“The theft of oil by some Nigerians that happen to live there, who feel that the oil belongs to them and not the country, is an irritating thing for those of us, who participated in the civil war for 30 months in which at least two million Nigerians were killed,” Buhari stressed.

The President also said the proposed budget would focus on increasing efficiency and transparency in government operations and the blocking of leakages from revenue generating agencies.

He added that the recovered assets of the country would also be used to reduce the budget deficit.

Anti-corruption war: Judiciary, my main headache, says Buhari

Nigerian government vows to jail corrupt judges, seize stolen assets

By NIcholas Ibekwe

Nigeria’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, said in Lagos on Tuesday that judges found to have corruptly enriched themselves would be prosecuted, jailed and would lose to the state any asset they acquired with such stolen funds.

Mr. Malami, who was the special guest at the launch of a report by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) titled, “Go home and sin no more: Corrupt judges escaping from justice in Nigeria”, said judges should be beyond reproach.

“Considering the pivotal role that they play in the administration of justice, it is important to ensure that Nigerian judges, like the proverbial Caesar’s wife, are beyond reproach or even suspicion. Gone are the days when corrupt judges escaped from justice in Nigeria!”

“I can assure you today that in line with the cardinal agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, the office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation shall ensure that every appearance of corruption in the judiciary is dealt among other measures through criminal prosecution and forfeiture to the State of illegally acquired assets,” he said.

The minister was represented at the launch by his senior special assistant, Abiodun Aikomo.

He added that the Buhari administration would not tolerate judicial impunity and would do everything within the law to ensure that judicial accountability in “a corruption-free judiciary which is both independent and impartial”.

“The judiciary’s one and only mandate should be to deliver justice without fear or favour, affection or ill-will. The world over, the rule of law, and separation of powers which are inseparable components of a democratic government, presupposes the existence of an independent and impartial judiciary,” he said.

He said judges found to have been corrupt were removed in the past by the National Judicial Council.

“In reality, on a comparison between the widely reported cases of corruption in the Judiciary vis-à-vis the records of judicial officers who have actually been punished therefore, it would appear as if Nigerian judges enjoy total immunity from prosecution for corruption (and allied offences), whereas judges are not immune from discipline for any misdeed let alone for corruption,” he said.

SERAP executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, who welcomed Mr. Malami’s commitment, said corrupt judges are more dangerous to the society than corrupt politicians because a corrupt judiciary denies both victims of corruption and those accused of corruption access to an independent, impartial and fair adjudication process.

Mr. Mumuni explained that the report advocated the prosecution of corrupt judges; referral by the Chief Justice of the Federation and the National Judicial Council of all cases of judicial corruption to appropriate anti-corruption agencies; publication and auditing of spending by the judiciary; public and periodic disclosure of assets by the Chief Justice of Nigeria and all other judges.

The report also recommended that retired judges should be allowed to lead the National Judicial Council to improve its independence; and urgent investigation of allegations of age falsification among judges by the National Judicial Council.

The report also called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to proactively and robustly use their statutory powers to investigate and prosecute judicial corruption and to request from the National Judicial Council files on cases of corrupt judges for prosecution.

Nigerian government vows to jail corrupt judges, seize stolen assets

Obama Receives Formal Petition against Buhari for Disregard of Court Orders

United States President, Mr. Barack Obama, has been formally presented with over 4,000 signatory petition, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to respect court orders, uphold the constitution of Nigeria or resign from office.

The petition, which is being championed by a Legal Practitioner, Constitutional and Human Rights Lawyer, Ms. Carol Ajie, was sent to Obama on Monday, urging him to bear his influence on Buhari to respect the rule of law.

Ajie had in the petition which was  launch on the new year eve through the popular petition site Change.org, with over 4,000 signatories and 47,000 views,  also urged the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), lawyers, legislators, National Judicial Council (NJC) and benchers, among others, to “call on President Buhari to resign from office for his disobedience to court orders.”

The concerned lawyer with the support of other members of the judicial arm of the government, including the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), asserted that Buhari, by his statements during the Presidential Media Chat at the State House in Abuja, was behind the flagrant disobedience to court orders.

Through the petition, Ajie made what she described as a clarion call on President Obama and other concerned stakeholders to “respectfully call President Buhari to order, prohibit violence from politics and rights advocacy campaigns, ask President Buhari to respect court orders or resign, support Nigeria and Nigerians to achieve true federalism or support the path to a confederation of independent states in Nigeria.”

She listed some factors in the current administration  which necessitated the petition including “sectional tension,  deliberate acts of inhumanity and dehumanisation, gender injustice, presidential profligacy and budget 2016 and disobedience of court orders.”

She said: “President Buhari’s unfair tactics, expression of prejudices and hostility towards the people commonly known as ‘Biafrans’ in the South-eastern region of Nigeria, is a bad precedent against our peaceful co-existence. The gravamen of his complaint is that the Igbos did not vote for him in March 2015. His supporters now tag the South-east derogatorily as ‘Biafraud.’  Elected as President, he must be magnanimous in victory.

“President Buhari was quoted as saying those who didn’t vote for him will be punished and sadly demonstrated this in a modern society.”

Ajie in the petition, also accused the president of deliberate acts of inhumanity and dehumanisation, especially against the Shiites and Biafran agitators, liking his treatment of these two groups to what led to the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

The human rights activist accused President Buhari of gender injustice, saying: “For obscure reasons, President Buhari ceded only 15 per cent to women in his cabinet, without remorse or apologies. Hence must be held to keep this and his other campaign promises and pledges, please.”

Obama Receives Formal Petition against Buhari for Disregard of Court Orders

Oshiomhole abolishes Customary Court of Appeal

Edo State Government has repealed the Act establishing the State Customary Court of Appeal that had hitherto existed alongside the State High Courts.

Addressing newsmen after signing into Law the Bill repealing the Act Establishing the Customary Court of Appeal, Tuesday, the State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, said, “I have just signed into law the bill to repeal the establishment of the Customary Court of Appeal in Edo State. With effect from today, the Customary Court of Appeal cease to exist and this amendment to the Edo State High Court provides for, among other things, the abolition of the Customary Court of Appeal. It also provides for the automatic transfer of all the Judges that are currently serving in the Customary Court of Appeal and they will be transferred to the State High Court.

Governor Oshiomhole

“With the abolition of the Customary Court of Appeal’, the Governor explained: “the Judges in Edo State High Court are now by reason of this amendment increased from 24 to 30 in order to provide our people with speedy access to justice. At the moment, we have close to 6,000 cases pending before 24 judges of the State High Court. With this amendment, all 30 Judges will now be able to hear any of these cases as may be assigned by the Chief Judge.

“The second element to the amendment is that the Judges that have now been transferred from the Customary Court of Appeal that has now been abolished to the State High Court, although they require by Law to subscribe to new oaths of office, but they will retain their seniority in Edo State Judiciary so there will be no loss of seniority and lastly, by this amendment, appeals arising from the decisions of Area Customary Court Presidents will still be heard but rather than have six judges dedicated to hear such cases that arise from time to time, the State Chief Judge will now assign Judges of the High Court to hear appeals from Area Customary Court.

“That is the way it was before and it worked perfectly well. So this amendment has not closed the door to appeals of Customary Court Judgments. So Customary Court issues can still be heard at Appeal level but the Chief Judge will be at liberty to designate Judges more or less the same way the Chief Judge currently has designated some courts as criminal court, designated some court as Revenue Court and even what we call Mobile Court.

“So, the beauty of it is that no Judge will not now be restricted to hearing very limited cases under the Customary court alone. They will be able to hear those cases along with any other cases whether it is a criminal case or a civil case or any matter that is brought before them and I believe this is in the best interest of Edo State, this is in the best interest of the public and even the Bar Association should benefit because there will be greater efficiency and access to justice is also quickened.

“So in the new year, we will formally practicalise this amendment by formally swearing in the effective transfer of Judges from Customary Court of Appeal to State High Court. It bears repeating that the Customary Court system remains. Judges of Customary Court are still there, whether these be Customary Court Presidents, or Area Courts.

‘So this is consistent with the commitment of this government to sustain reforms in every aspect of governance. Under democracy, we must keep changing. The only thing that is constant is change, we must keep on re-examining how we can get things better done for efficiency and ensure that service delivery including access to justice is fastened and improved upon.

“I know that this law is in the overall benefit of the litigants, it is in the benefit of the judges and it is in the benefit of our state and our people.”

Oshiomhole abolishes Customary Court of Appeal

Sack Inko-Tariah to prove that you are protective of the judiciary - APC Tells Wike

The Rivers State chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, has called on Governor Nyesom Wike to prove that he is honestly and genuinely against the verbal assault on the Nigerian judiciary by his Spokesman, Mr. Opunabo Christian Inko-Tariah who described the judiciary as conducting judicial terrorism and gang-up over their rulings that separately went against Nyesom Wike at the Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal and the Supreme Court.

APC Rivers State

The Publicity Secretary of the party, Chris Finebone in a statement said, “The APC finds it curious and unacceptable for the Rivers State Governor to only go on air and pretend to denounce the behaviour of his appointee who had, on his behalf, declared war on the Nigerian judiciary and used all kinds of unprintable words against the nation’s judicial officers. Logic and standard administrative practice behove on Nyesom Wike to summarily dismiss Mr. Opunabo Inko-Tariah for portraying the government as in a state of utter confusion where officials say different things much to the confusion of the citizenry who are at a loss as to who to believe when officials speak.”

Continuing, the party said, “in effect, what the situation clearly signifies is that what we have in Rivers State is not a government but a gang of bandits where every buccaneer is lord unto himself or herself. It further underscores and confirms the widely held view by Rivers people that what Nyesom Wike is running is a one-man show in the name of government.”

To the APC, it did appear that Mr. Opunabo Inko-Tariah spoke the mind of his Principal, Governor Nyesom Wike because, ab initio, the latter had verbally villified the judiciary to the hearing of many including Mr. Inko-Tariah but was advised by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria from the Ogoni axis to desist from such as it could hurt the shaky journey of the caretaker governor as he approaches the Appeal and possibly the Supreme Courts.

It maintained that the accompanying public volte face by Nyesom Wike which culminated in the disowning of Mr. Inko-Tariah’s attacks on the judiciary was sheer pretence by Wike having found himself between the rock and a hard place in his war against the Nigerian judiciary.

For the APC, Nyesom Wike is merely making Mr. Inko-Tariah a fall guy for his own indiscretion against the Nigerian judiciary.

“He can only prove the genuineness of his later-day crusade to safeguard the judiciary if he can muster the moral courage to sack Mr. Opunabo Inko-Tariah” the APC advised.

Sack Inko-Tariah to prove that you are protective of the judiciary - APC Tells Wike

Come up with ideas to deal with corruption - Odigie urges Judiciary

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has enjoined the judiciary to come up with innovative ways of dealing with established cases of corruption.

APC National Chairman, Odigie Oyegun

Odigie-Oyegun said this at the post-investiture reception for Dr. Muiz Banire as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, in Abuja on Monday.

He explained that the kind of mind-blowing cases of corruption in Nigeria would require a system which would deal with such cases expeditiously in order to prevent people who had stolen so much from the system from using part of their loot to escape justice.

The party chairman said, “There must be easier way; there must be either decisive justice, real justice without defeating the purpose of justice and without defeating the means to reform our society.

“Reform we must; and that reform must permeates all sectors of the economy and the polity.

“The matter today is corruption and if we do not have the way that corruption cases can be treated or heard and disposed off quickly and particularly in circumstance where today when we talk of corruption, we are not talking of a few millions of naira, we are not talking of five per cent; we are talking about something approaching trillions.

“These people can keep us in court all year long and for many years. In cases that are very obvious, very clear that if you total everything it would be what one would have earned in all his life time and if he comes ten times over to the world there is no way he could have accumulated the kind of wealth he has, particularly for people in public service.

“What is serious is that in a period like this when we want to change the society and change the society quickly, it is important that it is in tandem with the Judicial system.”

Come up with ideas to deal with corruption - Odigie urges Judiciary

CJN bars politicians from his office, residence

Probably due to the dispute generated from the visit of the Rivers State Governor, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mohammed, has banned politicians from visiting his office or residence.

 

CJN Mohammed Muktar

In a swift move to stop politicians, particularly governors and legislators with outstanding petitions against them at the election tribunal, the CNJ has since stopped all requests for courtesy calls.

His security detail from the Department of State Service (DSS) and police orderly will henceforth be part of any interaction with Politically Exposed Lawyers seeking audience with him.

This measure, according to findings, is put in place to deprive politicians from dragging the judiciary into politics.

The CJN and justices of the Supreme Court were reportedly affected by the problem the visit of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike generated

Although the governor who visited the CJN twice did not meet him at the office, but his visit generated some backlash for the judiciary.

According to a source who prefered not to be named, the CJN has warned his aides and household members not to allow any politicians have access to him.

The source said: “Except for his fellow judicial officers, relations and friends, the CJN has banned politicians from visiting his residence. He has limited all transactions or relationship to his office.

“The CJN has also made it a policy to invite a member of the security operatives or aides in his office to henceforth be part of any interaction with Politically-Exposed Lawyers seeking audience with him.

“Once any lawyer is suspected to have come to solicit favour, security agents will now be called upon to witness such an audience.”

It was learnt that the CJN has decided to limit courtesy visits by public officials.

“The new guidelines take immediate effect. The position of the CJN remains the same that the Judiciary must be insulated from politics.

“As a matter of fact, what the public did not know is that the CJN deliberately avoided meeting with Governor Nyesom Wike to avoid dragging the Judiciary into the murky waters of politics.”

The CJN has also advised judges to stay away from politicians to be able to discharge their duties without fear or favour.

CJN bars politicians from his office, residence

Most governors flouting judiciary’s autonomy - CJN

The incoming Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, has expressed concern over the problem of inadequate funding plaguing the nation’s judiciary at all levels.

He said most of the states of the federation were particularly in breach of the constitutional provisions granting financial independence to the judiciary.

Justice Mohammed was on Tuesday cleared by the Senate to take over from the outgoing CJN, Justice Aloma Mukhtar, who retires on Thursday.

A statement by the Head, Information Unit of the National Judicial Institute, Madu Emezie, on Wednesday, quoted Justice Mohammed as speaking during the launching of a book written by Justice Mukhtar on Tuesday.

The 55-page book, ‘A centenary of Judicial Administration of Nigeria’, in part, contains judicial discourse and captures the administration and history of Nigeria judiciary within the time frame of the administration of Justice Mukhtar as the CJN.

Justice Mohammed said the judiciary, especially at the state levels, was being denied of access to fund despite clear constitutional provisions granting financial independence to it.

He said, “The independence of the Judiciary without adequate funds is like denying an able bodied athlete a full pair of running shoes while passing the same shoes on to a paraplegic.

“We do not have ready access to funds despite the provision of section 121(3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Most states in the federation are in breach of this constitutional provision. More understanding is needed from all concerned in order to get the type of judiciary wee desire.”

He called for vigilance among stakeholders to avert an encroachment of judicial independence in the nation.

We must remain vigilant against the slightest encroachment on judicial independence.

He said it would be difficult to reposition the nation’s judiciary in the absence of financial independence.

He said, “How then do you reposition the lower courts for improved justice delivery without the needed funds. The quest will be difficult in the absence of financial independence for the Judiciary, especially at the states.

“Most of the lower courts are states courts. The welfare of the judges of these courts must be significantly improved.

“Their working conditions must be looked into holistically. The state judiciaries must be adequately funded to be able to make these much needed improvements possible.”

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Most governors flouting judiciary’s autonomy - CJN

APC"s attack on the Judiciary, destruction of constitutional; democratic institutions - PDP

By Ehi Ekhator

The Leadership of the People Democratic Party (PDP) has decried the o-going attack on the judiciary and officers in the justice department by the opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC).

Olisah Metuh

The party said that the onslaught is an integral part of the larger APC ideology which borders essentially on “the negation and destruction of constitutional and democratic institutions in quest for an order whose promise is doom for the nation”

In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, Sunday, the party said the ceaseless torrents of attacks and denigration of the  executive arm of federal government by the APC as well as the legislative gerrymandering whose intention is to cause confusion in the National Assembly and the renewed battle by the party on the judiciary are concrete elements of political nihilism.

 He said “Why is weird anarchism an option for the APC? Consistently, this party has attacked and denigrated the executive and Nigerians excused it on the desperation of a political party that claims an alternative. It then took on the legislature where its crisis recipe in gerrymandering has yielded no result. Now, the APC is on a renewed aggression on the judiciary. Why is nihilism the APC preferred option?”

The statement further said it was unfortunate the APC was waging such a battle whose tragic consequences on the institutions of democracy were well known while at the same time jamming the political space with its pretensions on democracy. “Wherever the APC is drawing this inspiration or motivation is surely far from the continent of democracy and right within the conclave of dictatorship. The APC is doing everything to scuttle democracy,” the PDP argued.

The party further expressed worry that the frequent penchant of the APC to blackmail judicial officers, paint them as inept and compromised where it fails to secure its bidding and turn a defender of the same institution when the reverse is the case, has been a running streak in the APC whose component  metamorphosis, the ACN denoted a chilling tale of corrupt influence in the judicial victory of two governorship seats in the South West.

The PDP added that the rush by the party to castigate the ruling of the Federal High Court presided over by Justice Adeniyi Ademola on the defection of some PDP members in the House of Representatives to the APC as well as its  scathing criticism of the National Judicial Council over the suspension of the Chief Judge of Rivers State, clearly gave away the simmering impatience of the APC with the democratic order.

“Nigerians had expected the acclaimed champions of democracy to quietly exploit the appeal option instead of resorting to statements  meant to promote civil disobedience and lawlessness,” saying the latter day attempt by the party to tone down its disdain for the judiciary by blaming the media for what it called misrepresentation of Justice Ademola’s judgement does not hold water .

“But the APC can still turn a new leaf by borrowing from the PDP. It is not late. Our great party shall continue to uphold the sanctity of our democratic institutions as it is incumbent on all who genuinely believe in democracy to defend and promote it. The alternative is anarchy, the route the APC appears decided on.”

APC"s attack on the Judiciary, destruction of constitutional; democratic institutions - PDP

APC has respect for judiciary, says Lai Mohammed

The All Progressives Congress (APC) said last night it has “profound respect” for the judiciary.

It said after obtaining the certified true copy of the judgment by Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High court (Abuja Division) on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) versus defecting lawmakers, it found out that most of the statements credited to the judge by media reports were not contained therein.

The statement by APC Spokesman Lai Mohammed from London, the United Kingdom, said:

Lai Mohammed, APC

“The All Progressives Congress (APC) has a most profound respect for all institutions especially the Judiciary. It is precisely because of this respect that we are always worried and concerned whenever we perceive anything capable of jeopardizing the integrity and independence of that great institution.

“The obiter credited to Justice Adeniyi Ademola advising the 37 defecting legislators to vacate their seats and the manner the judgment was reported by a large section of the media was alarming and capable of tarnishing the image of the Judiciary and that is why we expressed our strong disavowal and disappointment. We also want to put on record that we were not the only ones scandalised by this judgment.

“Happily whether it was as a result of the mass disavowal that trailed the judgment or by whatever strange coincidence when the enrolled order of this judgment was finally received by our counsel it did not contain any part of the offensive obiter advising the defecting legislators to vacate their seats.

“Once again we wish to reiterate our position that we have nothing but the most profound respect for the Judiciary.

“We however once again warn the PDP led Jonathan administration to stop compromising and destroying all our institutions.

“The humiliating treatment the former President of the Court of Appeal Justice Ayo Salami received in the hands of President Jonathan-led administration is still fresh in the minds of all Nigerians.

“Therefore if anyone is guilty of compromising, intimidating and humiliating the Judiciary, it is President PDP-led Admnistration.” (0)

APC has respect for judiciary, says Lai Mohammed