Freed judges spend 10hrs with DSS

DESPITE being on administrative bail, seven senior judges who were arrested over alleged bribe-for-judgement spent close to 10 hours at the head office of the Department of State Security Service (DSS) on Wednesday.

Since they were granted administrative bail Sunday night, the DSS had insisted that they report daily at its headquarters in Abuja.

Their appearance on Wednesday and the decision to keep them throughout the working hours led to the cancellation of a planned meeting between the judges and Senate Commitee on Judiciary and Human Rights.

With the DSS already demanding their indefinite suspension by the National Judicial Council (NJC), the daily report at the Service was seen as a way of achieving what the council had refused to grant the Service.

The meeting with the senators was put off when the judges were not released at the DSS headquarters.

The judges, including two serving justices of the Supreme Court, are to report at the headquarters again today.

Nigerian Tribune also gathered that Chief Justice of Nigeria-nominee, Justice Walter Onnoghen, will soon go through security screening at the DSS.

He has been recommended to President Muhammadu Buhari as the next CJN by the NJC at its emergency meeting on Tuesday.

There was no continuation of the meeting on Wednesday.

The planned security screening for the CJN-nominee is said to be the tradition and any adverse outcome could affect his appointment chances.

Only his name was sent to Buhari, without any stand-by nominee in case of rejection by Buhari.

Meanwhile the crisis over the judges’ arrest has forced a shift in the final interview of the shortlisted candidate for the position of NJC secretary.

The interview by a panel set up by the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), earlier fixed for Wednesday, had now been postponed till October 18.