DSS clampdown on judges, industry outlook
Administration of criminal justice
Abubakar Malami, SAN
“The fundamental consideration is whether there is an allegation of the commission of a crime; whether there is the need for investigation, and whether the relevant provisions of the law and indeed, all circumstances, as provided in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) are put into consideration in our conduct as regard the fight against corruption.
“The bottom line is that we have a responsibility to fight corruption. Corruption is a crime and nobody, regardless of how highly placed, is exempted as far as issues that border on crimes and criminalities are concerned.
“Once crimes and criminality are concerned, nobody is an exception!
Constitutional Democracy
Prof. Ben Nwabueze
Whilst judges are not granted immunity from criminal process, the vital and sacrosanct role of the judiciary in governance entitles them to great respect over and above that accorded to the ordinary citizens. To disgrace a judge, as by a degrading treatment, is not just the disgraceful treatment of an individual; it brings the entire judiciary, as the third organ of government, the Third Estate of the Realm, into disrepute and undermines its credibility in the eyes of the public. It diminishes our country, and all of us. The matter therefore counsels and demands cautious handling.
We are in a constitutional democracy, not a military dictatorship, and the law must be respected and obeyed in the way the affairs of the country are handled, including the handling of the fight against corruption which we all wholeheartedly support.
Society survives on the strength of its institutions
Arthur Obi-Okafor, SAN
“Every society truly survives on rule of law and the strength of its institutions. Once the judiciary loses its awe, the society will down the road be worse off. Whatever temporary gains you think you have achieved would have been lost. The underlining need for separation of powers would have been sacrificed for hunting down few alleged corrupt judges.
“The NBA and NJC do not make any pretension about some judges being corrupt. All we are saying is that the executive cannot bypass the law and the constitution in pursuit of justice. Leaders will come and go but the institutions remain. If the law or the process does not meet your expectation, we all have a duty to advocate reforms rather than desecrate the institution”
Application of the rule of law
David Dimas
Emerging public opinions, following the “sting operation”, have been conflicting. People from all walks of life have critiqued the raids in mixed reactions. A politician representing Kogi West on the platform of All Progressives Congress in the National Assembly openly described DSS’s action as “absolutely wrong and unacceptable.” The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) took it further by declaration a state of emergency in the judiciary. Perhaps the most common argument against the raid, astonishingly, is that “the Judiciary is independent and President Muhammadu Buhari has turned the DSS into a political retribution machine.”
Justice demands that when a crime is committed, the system should follow the appropriate trajectory needed to avoid recidivism. A justice system supposed to be grounded in the values of truth and fairness, should ensure that everyone is treated in an appropriate manner if caught on the other side of the law. Unfortunately, this is yet to happen in Nigeria and may not happen any time soon. When it comes to our justice system, a number of factors come into play.
First, there is justice that impacts the poor and justice for the rich and prominent personalities. Second, justice is for sale. We have witnessed, many times, how corrupt public servants purchase their way to freedom and, sooner or later, form part of successive governments.
These amusing premises shed light on, and are frequently the result of, many broken pieces in our political culture of selling our conscience to the highest bidder. I find these detours we often create around reasoning absolutely diverting. To put it in another way, our public opinion circle has been overwhelmed by hard-edged duplicitous ideologies, in that despite the availability of facts and figures, the practice of misleading the public reigns supreme. We seem to have, for the most part of this sequence of events, missed two very important observations. In the first place, what are our judges doing with such colossal amount of cash hidden in their house? Second, how did they come across such kind of money?
I am having a tough time understanding why all we choose to complain about, with regards to alleged corruption on the bench, is the principle of the rule of law. This, in my view, is contrary to logic, intuition and common sense.
…why should the ‘rule of law’ only apply to the likes of Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, Justice John Okoro, Justice Adeniyi Ademola Justice Muazu Pindiga Abdullahi and Justice Nnamdi Dimgba? The law must be allowed to take its course especially if they are found guilty.
Anyway, the law requires security personal to demonstrate that they have followed procedures and established rules in discharging their duties. To this effect, a spokesman for the DSS, Abdullahi Garba, has gone on air to defend the secret police’s action saying that its “action is in line with its core mandate… The judges involved were invited, upon which due diligence was exhibited and their premises searched.”
Whatever the case, there is something so terribly wrong with a society in which a poor citizen caught stealing can spend years in jail, while “authority thieves” are defended and supported in the manner we are becoming accustomed to. This is an extreme and unjust practice that grossly undermines the values of our image as a nation and is a clear sign of a disconcerted democracy. I do not think that anybody who wants our incipient democracy to survive should buy into this red herring of “judges are untouchable.”
Even more, the rule of law, which includes the principles of the supremacy of the law, equality before the law and individual rights, theorizes that everyone in a country is equal before the law. Similarly, section 1.(1) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) affirms that our “Constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have binding force on the authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Whether we admit or not, the judiciary and its entities are accountable under the law. Going forward, justice should be based on the rule of law as stipulated by our constitutional statutes.
Unwarranted Intimidation
Mazi Obioma
The harm caused by this unwarranted intimidation and denigration of the judiciary by the executive will linger more than we could imagine. Its effect will be disastrous for justice, democracy, rule of law and every single lawyer in the country. Time will bear me witness.
Doctrine of Necessity
The Doctrine of Necessity that confers the duty on not only the DSS, to investigate the judges, but all Nigerians. The judges are meant to be responsible to all Nigerians not a coterie of “extraordinary” citizens.
Doctrine of Necessity frees DSS since it has done the needful, but was frustrated by the NJC.
Have we forgotten so soon, that these are petitions brought against these judges by the same “ordinary” Nigerians, who the CJN urged to be “calm and prayerful”?
DSS action an absurdity
Abubakar Balarabe Mahmoud, SAN, President, Nigerian Bar Assosiation
“We reject the explanation and justification that these so called surgical operations were targeted at corruption and not the judiciary. We find it absurd that the Presidency will accept assurances from DSS that it followed all due process of the law! We maintain our position that these operations are illegal and unconstitutional.
“I want to reiterate that the position of Bar Association is not aimed at protecting any Judge. We are not also shielding any Judges from investigation from charges of corruption. The resolve of the NBA on the fight against corruption remains unwavering.”
DSS Raid: Fight Against Corruption Or Attack On Political Foes?
Ehi Ekhator
I have heard numerous Nigerians communicate their backings for the arrest while some completely express concerns over the assault. Eminent Nigerians like the former Minister of Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode and an Renown Senior Lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome have condemned the kidnap of the judges at their homes in the middle of the night.
As indicated by Fani-Kayode, DSS lied about the affirmed cash found in the premises of the judges. He cautioned Nigerians not to believe such, as the division is scarcely searching for a reason to legitimize its unlawful activity.
“It is in this context that one has to view the absurd claims by the DSS that massive sums of cash ranging from 2 million USD to hundreds of thousands of euros and pounds sterling were found in the homes of all the judges that were arrested in the early hours of saturday morning.
“If anyone honestly believes that such large sums of cash were found in the homes of ANY of those judges then that person needs to have his head examined.”
Seeing this to conclusion
Barrister Marvin
I sincerely hope this matter will not end like this. I really hope all these judges will be arraigned after this media trial. It will be good for us to hear their own side of the story. In a country like ours where every allegation of corruption is deemed true by those who should ordinarily advocate the principle of fair hearing, it will be the greatest injustice to let this matter die without arraigning the suspects in Court. DSS must complete what they started. Lest, many of us will conclude that this gestapo style raid was only meant to intimidate the judiciary.
Stringent punishment for erring judges
Bunmi A.
While the raging debate of DSS raid on some Judges is still ongoing, I really want to ask if the operation of DSS was not self induced by acts of commission or omission by the cumulative acts of Some lawyers and Possibly that of the NJC? I think the Judiciary would have been saved of this dent and embarrassment if and only if very stringent punishment were dished out to erring Judges.
“I do not sincerely think that Members of the Bar antagonizing each other is the solution. We should rather dissipate our energy towards suggesting an acceptable and pragmatic solutions towards salvaging the situation. The Bar should partner with NJC on quarterly basis to review any verifiable and genuine complaint(s) against any member of the Bench without being victimized. IF THE BENCH FAILS, IT WILL DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY ROB ON MEMBERS OF THE BAR. I am very optimistic that we shall overcome this trying moment.