National Judicial Council, NJC yesterday launched the National Judicial Policy, NJP, with a mandate to place a judge under investigation on interim suspension.
Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmoud Mohammed, at the launch said NJP covers issues such as judicial appointment, judicial discipline, judicial code of conduct and judicial education and training.
The CJN also said that Section 2(3)(2) of the new policy particularly bars judges and other court staff from accepting gifts from other arms of government, and made compliance mandatory.
“The Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers and Code of Conduct for Court Employees, with the amendment discouraging acceptance of gifts from other arms of government, should be such as would be adequate,” he said.
The new NJP provision is contrary to the position of NJC when the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, made the call for the suspension of some judges recently arrested by the Department of State Services, DSS, on allegations of corruption.
The NJP, which was prepared by the NJC in April 2016, covers issues like judicial performance, case flow management, judicial administration and court management, transparency and anti-corruption policy, among others.
The NJP deals with Judicial Discipline Policy under section 2.2 where it makes provisions for the Judicial Discipline Regulations.
It states in its section 2.2.3 that the Judicial Discipline Regulations may specify among other 16 items, the procedure of investigation of a judge, powers of council to order a review and composition of review body, and powers of interim suspension by NJC.
The NJP states in part: “The National Judicial Policy ascribes much premium to judicial accountability and ethical conduct in judicial office.
“The National Judicial Regulations may specify, among other things:
“Who may make a complaint; time within which a complaint could be made from date of the event or matter complained of; registration procedure of the complaint; form of a complaint; reference of complaints for investigation and composition of investigating entity; terms of reference of such investigating entity or committee’
Others are, “Procedure of investigation by investigative entity; form and contents of the investigation report and its disclosure to the subject of the investigation; proposed disciplinary action, notification and decision; nature of disciplinary powers that council may exercise; powers of Council to order review and composition of review body; circumstances in which council may order a review; powers and procedure of the review body; and powers of interim suspension by Council.”
Meanwhile, Forum of Non-Governmental Organisations in Nigeria, FONGON, yesterday, called on judges who have been indicted of corruption in the country to step down.
The body said even though affected 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 are able to clear themselves of the allegations against them.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the group, through its Chairman, Wole Badmus, vowed that if the judges fail to step down, it would mobilise Nigerians to besiege their courts until they heed the call.
FONGON however expressed worry over the “silence” of labour unions in the country on the saga, stressing it would mobilise citizens in support of the anti-corruption campaign of President Mohammadu Buhari.
The body slammed NJC and NBA, for not only allegedly facilitating bribing of judges in law courts, but aiding them to escape judgment.
FONGON, which copiously quoted the nation’s constitution, emphasised that manners in which security agents arrested the allegedly corrupt judges were constitutional.
It said the effort was aimed at ridding the nation’s judiciary of “bad eggs.”
It said of NJC and NBA: “Since the arrest of the judges/justices, we believe that the National Judicial Council has been doing everything possible to muddle the waters and to water down the efforts of the Federal Government to tackle corruption in the judiciary. “Their strategy has been to focus on the procedure, in terms of who arrested who and whether such arrests are constitutional, rather than the substantive issue, which is corruption…
“Our research shows that the NJC has been engaging only in cosmetic fight against the bad eggs in the judiciary.
“Between 2000 and 2016, not one of the 73 judges sanctioned by the NJC for various acts of corruption was prosecuted!
“The NJC has also refused to release the records of its proceedings in recommending sanctions against those judges. Not even the Freedom of Information Act has compelled the NJC to release the records. If this is no cover-up, what is it?”
FONGON said it chose to speak on the corruption in the nation’s judiciary after its interactions with the people.
It said majority of Nigerians support the Federal Government’s efforts to tackle corruption in the judiciary.
“This has strengthened our resolved to come out boldly in support of the efforts to make our judiciary corruption-free.
“Another point to note is the fact that some judiciary icons have weighed in on the issue of corruption in the judiciary.
“Notable among them are retired Supreme Court Justice Samson Uwaifo and a former judge of International Court of Justice, Bola Ajibola.
“Their interventions are very illuminating. Justice Uwaifo said a corrupt judge is more harmful to the society than a man who runs amok with a dagger in a crowded street. Let’s quote him: ‘If a judge is corrupt, he is no longer a judge, he is a thief and therefore he should be treated as such, according to the law and sent to jail.
“The substantive issue is corruption. Is it true that these people are actually corrupt and that huge sums of money were found in their place? If that is so, the question of the procedure that was taken would be a secondary thing.”
The organisation listed 10 petitions filed by Civil Society Network Against Corruption, CSNAC, against judges in the country which it said the NJC had allegedly failed to act upon. The petitions include alleged retirement of Justice Umezulike, Chief Judge of Enugu State on the recommendation of the NJC for collecting N10m from a litigant while launching a book, but that another judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta, collected over N40m from his book launch and was not recommended for retirement by the NJC.
“The petition submitted to NJC by the DSS on the 15 judges who are said to have engaged in money laundering and corruption was not considered. “Did the same NJC not recommend the dismissal and prosecution of Justice Kabiru Auta who had collected N200m bribe from a litigant?
“Why was the NJC silent on the millions of naira, dollars, pounds and other foreign currencies,” the group said.
It also recalled the position of constitution lawyer, Femi Falana, where he recently said in an interview that NBA leaders know all the corrupt judges and lawyers in the country.
“The NBA’s opposition to the arrest of some judges/justices is not altogether altruistic, but based on sheer self -interest.
“Some members of this association are afraid that exposing the corrupt judges will in turn expose them, since they are the conduits for bribing the corrupt judges.
“It is common knowledge that the only ways that judges/justices can be corrupted are through lawyers and the staff of the judges/justices,” the group stressed.
The group also appealed to the Federal Government to caution governors of Rivers and Ekiti states, Nyesom Wike, and Ayo Fayose respectively, to order for “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,” the group further pleaded.
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