Elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark, has in an open letter told the Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN), Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, that corruption and other scandals are fast becoming the bane of the nation’s judiciary.
In the letter made available to the media in Abuja on Thursday, he pointed out that every Nigerian, particularly those in the legal profession, are waiting for the day the Supreme Court and its associate bodies will be reorganised to save the country.
While noting that time is auspicious for the reform, he said, “I humbly wish to address Your Lordship as a senior citizen of our country on a matter that is causing great agitation, anger, and tension in our beloved country.
“Corruption and the recent scandalous and unhealthy development in the judiciary are fast becoming a bane in our society.”
The former federal commissioner, Drawing on his experience as an old legal practitioner, Clark recalled that he saw the Judiciary and the legal profession at its best.
“It was the pride of the then legal practitioners and the most revered Justices of the various courts of Nigeria and the posture of our most revered Justices and senior lawyers that attracted some of us to study law in the United Kingdom,” he noted.
Clark stated: “As an old member of our noble profession, I have shown keen interest in the reorganisation of the Judiciary.
“Your Lordship can, therefore, imagine the state of my mind when the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, GCON, who was appointed the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) in 2011, made a move to sanitise the system.”
He informed that he was impressed with Justice Musdapher’s commitment to exercising constitutional judicial power firmly anchored on a moral authority that rests on public confidence.
Consequently, he has to send a letter of commendation to the former CJN.
He added: “My Lord, you can imagine the state of my joy and fulfilment as a result of the above reassuring words. Unfortunately, he could not carry out the complete overhauling of the system before he died.
“Unfortunately, this position is very much at variance with what your immediate predecessor in office, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, tried to whittle down the perception vis-à-vis his statement on the interpretation of the actions of the Judiciary.”
The leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) urged the CJN to
look at what happened to Justice Mohammed Uwais Report, which was produced by the committee set up by Justice Musdapher to reorganise the Judiciary with some associates.
Chief Clark recalled some recent developments in the judiciary, which he said are perilous.
He recalled: “The humiliation and inhumane treatment meted out to the former CJN, Justice Walter Onoghen, remains a black spot on the judiciary and the Nigerian bar. A public boycott of the courts by NBA, which would have been total, was ineffectively done by a few lawyers for a few days. The President of the Nigerian Bar Association at the time, Mr. Paul Usoro, was confronted by me at the time for not speaking out on behalf of the Nigerian Bar Association. Indeed, I believe that it was a conspiracy between the former Federal Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the then President, Muhammadu Buhari, because they did not want Justice Walter Onoghen to be responsible for the nomination of Judges for the various Tribunals that will be set up after the 2019 Presidential election, whereby an exparte motion was filed by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami SAN, at the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) on the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onoghen.
“Thereafter, Justice Walter Onoghen was suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari, who nominated Justice Tanko Muhammed to act as CJN without the involvement of the NJC. Justice Tanko Muhammed immediately nominated and screened several judges of the High Court as proposed members of the judicial tribunals to try all the cases after the presidential election. Unfortunately, the National Judicial Commission did not challenge the action of Mr. President and why Justice Walter Onoghen was shamelessly humiliated out of the service. Still agitating in my mind is whether, under the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the President can alone suspend a Chief Justice of Nigeria or he can appoint an acting Chief Justice of Nigeria without the participation of the National Judicial Commission. Is it constitutional?
“My Lord, we the people of Nigeria felt that our great country Nigeria will fail as a nation if the country is not restructured in order to know the country we all own together after the 1914 amalgamation by Lord Lugard, but in fact, the nation and Nigerians do not believe that miracle will happen in the Judiciary that will make it possible for a re-organisation to be carried out in this very important arms of government. We as a country believe that with your appointment as the new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), the miracle will happen; otherwise, there will be no arms of government known as the judiciary. It is very necessary that we are all praying and supporting you that the ugly and bad situation in the judiciary and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) will be arrested by your appointment.
“The 14-man Supreme Court Justices, including you, our now beloved Chief Justice of Nigeria, who jointly and severally passed a vote of no confidence on their colleague, the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, justice Tanko Muhammad
“In a first-of-its-kind manner, a protest petition of the Apex Court chronicles the various challenges that have almost crippled efficient adjudication of the cases in the court. The Justices of the Supreme Court wrote to the CJN, Justice Tanko Muhammad, lamenting the perilous state of affairs in the Judiciary. My Lord, you are well aware of the content of that protest letter
“The retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice Musa Dattijo, who was also a signatory to the above-mentioned letter, stated in his valedictory speech how unwholesome practices have compromised the judiciary in Nigeria. “A couple of years ago, appointment to the Bench was strictly on merit. Sight knowledge of the law, integrity, honour, and hard work distinguished those who were elevated,” he said while also highlighting what is going on today in the Judiciary. ‘It is asserted that the process of appointment to judicial positions is deliberately conducted to give undue advantage to the ‘children, spouses, and mistresses’ of serving and retired judges and managers of judicial offices.’
“The illegal raiding of Judges’ houses in the mid night in the ungodly wee hours of the night in a commando-like manner in respective places in the country was very derogatory and humiliating to the Judiciary and the legal profession. Thereafter, a very highly talented Justice of the Supreme Court was allegedly accused of storing a huge amount of money in his private room in Ebonyi State. He was charged to court but later discharged on the intervention of the NJC, but the humiliation he passed through quickened his sudden death. Some Judges were tried, discharged and also set free through the intervention of the NJC.
“Senator Adamu Muhammed Bulkachuwa’s irresponsible, callous, and mischievous statement in the Senate was shocking when I listened to his valedictory speech when he deliberately and arrogantly charged to his colleagues that he used to influence his wife’s judgement in order to help some of his ungrateful colleagues when they had cases in the court, meaning that he influenced some of his wife’s decisions in the Federal High Court and when she was also the President of the Court of Appeal. He even had the audacity to go to court to claim that he enjoyed the immunity when he made the speech.
“We expected that the Judiciary will, as a matter of urgency, take immediate action to investigate the damaging allegation made by Senator Bulkachuwa by rebuking his fellow Senators of not appreciating what he did for them when they have cases in his wife’s court. We can therefore imagine how many of his colleagues unjustifiably benefited from the influenced judgements and you can imagine the faith of the victims of such judgements. Neither the National Judicial Commission (NJC) nor the Attorney General of the Federation deemed it fit particularly in the interest of justice to invite the senator and his wife for interrogation.
“Socialisation between the Judiciary and some Senators who are facing criminal charges in their courts: One of the easiest ways that the Judges could be influenced is when some of these high-profile officials in government facing trials in the court freely meet with the CJN and other Judges at parties, occasions or at government functions and other public gatherings. I repeat, one of my motivations for studying law was the respect and honour given to Judges and Lawyers, which they commanded and earned in society; they were indeed placed after God. Today, where is that honour and dignity? I’m not suggesting that the Judges should be isolated from society and other people. However, by the nature of their profession and calling, Judges should not communalize themselves; they ought to exercise discretion in the circles of people they make up with.”
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