…I was a victim of corruption in judiciary, says retiring C-Appeal Justice

The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, on Thursday, asked all the judges being investigated over their alleged involvement in acts of corruption to recuse themselves from further judicial functions or proceed on compulsory leave, until their innocence is fully and completely established.

The legal body said such step was not only necessary in order to protect the sanctity and integrity of judicial processes that may involve the judges concerned, but to also safeguard the public image of the judiciary as an institution.

NBA, which made its position known at a valedictory court session that was held in honour of a retiring Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Sotonye Denton-West, further urged the National Judicial Council, NJC, to take very urgent steps to restore the sanctity of the courts.

It will be recalled that among Judges whose homes were raided by operatives of the Department of State Service, DSS, between October 8 and 9, included two Supreme Court Justices- Iyang Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta.

Others included Justices Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court Abuja, Kabir Auta of the Kano High Court, Muazu Pindiga of Gombe High Court, Mohammed Tsamiya of the Court of Appeal in Ilorin, and the Chief Judge of Enugu State, I. A. Umezulike.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is equally probing some judges allegedly involved in fraudulent transactions.

Meanwhile, the National President of the NBA, Mr. A.B Mahmoud, SAN, in an address he presented at the special court session, said: “My Lords, distinguished ladies and gentlemen permit me digress a little. I am sure that many here will be expecting me to make further statements on the ongoing events affecting the nation’s judiciary.

“I have in the course of the last two weeks or so made several statements and remarks on these developments. Our position is therefore well known. We have emphasized our commitment to safeguarding the independence of the nation’s judiciary.

“We have also spoken firmly on our commitment to rid the judiciary and indeed the bar of all corrupt elements. I will like to say we remain resolute on these. In the course of the last several days, the NBA has continued to hold high level consultations with all segments of the bar and other stakeholders and indeed the administration on how to address what has obviously become a major concern to all Nigerians within and outside the country.

“That is corruption in the judiciary. On Thursday 13th of October at the meeting of bar leaders comprising past NBA Presidents, Past General Secretaries and past Attorneys –General of the Federation, we reviewed very carefully the developments after listening to detailed briefings from both the Attorney General and Minister of Justice as well the Secretary of the National Judicial Council.

“One of the resolutions we took was to set up a Task Force to urgently review the current developments and come up with clear specific recommendations on how best to clean up the nation’s judiciary and rebuild confidence of Nigerians in our law courts. I am expecting the report of that task force in two weeks.

“In the meantime we have continued with our consultations and engagements. We will be coming up with bold and clear recommendations which we will pass to the National Judicial Council and the Government.

“In the interim however, particularly having regards to what appears to an ongoing accusations and counter accusations between the some of the Judges and other personalities or agencies, it appears to the NBA that it is extremely important that the NJC takes very urgent steps to safeguard the public image and sanctity of the courts.

“WE THEREFORE STRONGLY RECOMMEND that, without prejudice to the innocence or otherwise of the Judges involved in the ongoing investigations, they should be required to recuse themselves from further judicial functions or required to proceed on compulsory leave until their innocence is fully and completely established or until the conclusion of all judicial or disciplinary proceedings.

“We believe this will be necessary in order to protect the sanctity and integrity of judicial processes that may involve the judges concerned and safeguard the public image of the institution”.

Similarly, Chairman of Akure branch of the NBA, Mr. Oso Adetunji, in his own address, said there was need to deal with corrupt judges without desecrating the sacredness of the judiciary as an institution.

“The task before us as a nation is not to debate whether there are corrupt judges in our judiciary, the task is how to remove or deal with the few corrupt ones on the Bench, without destroying the judiciary.

“A corrupt judge on the bench is a cancer to the system. It eats deep into the system and will eventually kill the system if not removed. But let us remove such cancerous judges with care and due processes so that in our attempt to kill the cancer, we don’t inadvertently kill the system too.

“Let us deal with the corrupt judges in the judiciary without desecrating the sacredness of the institution. In dealing with the corrupt judges in our midst, let us treat the system with decency and dignity, so as to preserve the awe with which the ordinary man holds the court.

“Let every corrupt judge first be subjected to the disciplinary procedure of the NJC, disciplined and removed before subjecting him to the ridicule and treatment of a common criminal. It is not for him. It is for the sake of the system. I would be happy to see a corrupt judge handcuffed, paraded and docked. But for the sake of the system, let such be arraigned and docked as dismissed judicial officers. After all, the Nigeria Police Force will not submit its officer, no matter how junior he is, for prosecution without first removing his uniform.

“We all know that the NJC does not have the statutory power to prosecute. It is only saddled with the power to by virtue of section 292(1), Paragraph 20 (b) (d) of the Third Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, to discipline a judge.

“Let the NJC first discipline, by removing a judge from office, before handing him over for prosecution. To be able to this, the NJC must embark on a confidence building process by repositioning itself for this task.

“We suggest that petition against and judicial official be treated thoroughly and with dispatch. It must act without fear or favour or favour. Spouses of any politically exposed person should not be elevated to the Bench. Where the spouse of any politically exposed person is serving before his or her spouse was elevated to the Bench, let such spouse step down from the Bench”, Adetunji added.

Meanwhile, Justice Denton-West who bowed out of the appellate court bench having clocked the 70 years mandatory retirement age, in her speech, said she was a victim of corruption in the judiciary.

Justice Denton-West, who was the first female judge in Rivers State, said: “I would be failing in my duties as a senior citizen of this country, if I fail to comment on the recent goings in the judiciary. Indeed I know and believe that there is corruption unfortunately even in the folds of the judiciary. I have personally been a victim of corrupt acts from the judiciary on some occasions”.

However, she called on the authorities to revisit the remuneration of justices.

“The workload is heavy. Something should be done to give comfort to both serving judges and those that have retired. We spend almost all our time to make the society liveable, so, giving us a liveable life should not be too much. The judiciary still remains the common hope of all. So please may everybody treat the judiciary with respect”, she added.

Among dignitaries at the event included Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/10/dss-raid-nba-asks-arrested-judges-step-aside-pending-trial/

OK

Justice Inyang Okoro you don hear...... NBA say make you step aside or retire

Hahahahaha.....

Here is what someone has to say........ Is this not what u guys were supposed to do first rather than allow emotion carry you all too far as to warrant asking the judges be immediately released. Thank. GOD common sense has finally prevailed.

Justice Inyang Okoro please step down now.... You have done enough damage to the judiciary already. Pls go on compulsory Leave and enjoy your loot or better still open a Bureau de change

Actors: Nigerian Bar Association.

News source: VANGUARD.

Lovers of Corruption: No Comment.

odiks:
Justice Inyang Okoro you don hear...... NBA say make you step aside or retire

in your dreams. Is NBA now NJC? Let's see how things unfold.

Progressive01:
Actors: Nigerian Bar Association.

News source: VANGUARD.

Lovers of Corruption: No Comment.

Look at them below reading without commenting. Lovers of Corruption Indeed

Rubbish! No stepping down nothing until proven guilty.

Finally the NBA has seen the light .

Eden007:
in your dreams. Is NBA now NJC? Let's see how things unfold.

Hahaha..... This is just the beginning.. .. . NBA there main back bone don bow very soon others too will bow. Mind you NBA is part of NJC they are represented by 5 members in the council including the President of NBA himself who has just seen the light. That means - 5 (minus 5) already.. .. .. Hahahahaha

Justice Inyang Okoro I join NBA to ask you to step down and apologize to Amaechi else you would be sued for contravening the Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offence Act 2000 which says...



[b](23)-(1) Any public officer to whom any gratification is given, promised, or offered, in contravention of any provision of this Act, shall report such gift, promise or offer together with the name, if known, of the person who gave, promised or offered such gratification to him to the nearest officer of the commission or police officer.

(2) Any person from whom gratification has been solicited or obtained, or from whom an attempt has been made to obtain such gratification, in contravention of any provision of this Act, shall, at the earliest opportunity thereafter, report such soliciting or obtaining, or attempt to obtain the gratification together with the name, if known, or a true and full description of the person who solicited, or obtained, or attempted to obtain the gratification from him, to the nearest officer of the commission or police officer.

(3) Any person who fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with sub-sections (1) and (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand naira or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both fine and imprisonment.[/b]

Thus... .


“For failing to report the fictional bribery attempt by Amaechi, you Justice Inyang Okoro has committed an offence that attracts up to two years imprisonment.

Lalasticlala front page oh

Cc Mynd44

They should sit down joor ..No be so dem tell Saraki till mouth begin pain Zombies

now this is good

Oya those who have been insulting d NBA should come ooooo..


Mtcheeeew, dey condemn lawlessness and impunity and u call dem corrupt..

Meanwhile I still don't believe PMB ordered d DSS raid.. Some power mongers just ceased his rubber stamp to do a shoddy job

The poster above me is a die hard supporter of impunity

kahal29:


Hahaha..... This is just the beginning.. .. . NBA there main back bone don bow very soon others too will bow. Mind you NBA is part of NJC they are represented by 5 members in the council including the President of NBA himself who has just seen the light. That means - 5 (minus 5) already.. .. .. Hahahahaha

NBA is not a member of the NJC.If Justice Okoro and co will step aside then Amaechi and co will also have to step aside.What is good for the goose is good for the gander

Eazybay:
Oya those who have been insulting d NBA should come ooooo..


Mtcheeeew, dey condemn lawlessness and impunity and u call dem corrupt..

Meanwhile I still don't believe PMB ordered d DSS raid.. Some power mongers just ceased his rubber stamp to do a shoddy job

That can only happen when you have a zombie in power

At last NBA finally disappointed all corruption lovers. Common senses and uncompromise love for the nation will always prevail.

Doublespeak NBA .By force by fire, we will remove our judiciary from the stranglehold of lawyers shenanigans

Ok

Good. This would send a strong message to other compromised and corrupt judges.



The race to clean up the judiciary has begun

Na so

They have no choice, they'll eventually step down as they are no longer credible to give judgement in d court of law

someone had to take that bold step to make others sit up.. kudos to PMB

Watching

So they can support the move abi..shebi they were saying initially their arrest and raid was unconstitutional. Confused pple. Ride on Mr President we need a society free of Corruption.

NBA is saying rubbish.. Let DSS prove them guilty in court first..

Everyone involved should be suspended and proper investigation conducted

kcnwaigbo:

NBA is not a member of the NJC.If Justice Okoro and co will step aside then Amaechi and co will also have to step aside.What is good for the goose is good for the gander

Just imagine the kind of ignorance you are exhibiting on this forum thought you were Enlightened but now I know you are very shallow and empty. Pls help your self

http://www.njcgov.org/Aboutus/Composition

kahal29:


Look at them below reading without commenting. Lovers of Corruption Indeed

How can they?? This one is like a shot from a double barrel gun.

They can't wail about the source with the usual "lagos-ibadan express" gibberish, neither can they say "witch hunt" by the government since it's coming from NBA.

They best kept their mouths shut honestly.

Progressive01:
How can they?? This one is like a shot from a double barrel gun.

They can't wail about the source with the usual "lagos-ibadan express" gibberish, neither can they say "witch hunt" by the government since it's coming from NBA.

They best kept their mouths shut honestly.

They don take off