₦airaland Forum

lielbree:
We warned but Nigerians wanted change. We truly stepped 20years backwards by electing buhari to power. What a tyrant.

InvertedHammer:
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The Nigerian judiciary needs total clean up.

Three were sacked last week. DSS arrested two of them this week.

I don't think that's enough. The way they'd carried on in recent years had made mockery of the judiciary. Right or wrong? I am just glad that all attention is focused on them.

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omohayek:
There is no absolutely doubt that the Nigerian judiciary is rife with corruption and in dire need of cleaning out, but blatantly violating the separation of powers is simply not the right way to do it. If this constitutional restriction can be violated with impunity, what stops Buhari or a successor from ignoring any other such restraints? No man or woman can be bigger than the constitution, no matter how well-meaning they may be.

Wadeoye:
What do you mean by violating the separation of power? Are you saying if a judge is found to have committed a crime, he/she can't be arrested by security operatives? Which section of our constitution puts judges above the law and says they can't be arrested by DSS/police or even army if required?

omohayek:
There is no absolutely doubt that the Nigerian judiciary is rife with corruption and in dire need of cleaning out, but blatantly violating the separation of powers is simply not the right way to do it. If this constitutional restriction can be violated with impunity, what stops Buhari or a successor from ignoring any other such restraints? No man or woman can be bigger than the constitution, no matter how well-meaning they may be.

Pidggin:
Did you notice that there is no northerner amongst them and these are the same people that have previously ruled against FG/APC? I know you are entitled to your opinion but right now your comment is very annoying and insensitive

InvertedHammer:
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I have argued on many occassions that democracy is not good for Nigeria. It has been grossly abused.

In response to your position, there is no oversight. An institution cannot police itself as has been shown by the executive, legislative and judiciary arms of government in Nigeria. Democracy seems only good on papers considering the ways it is being implemented in Nigeria. Scandal after scandal, everything is swept under the proverbial carpet.

Nigeria needs a mix of democracy and dictatorship. As it is, the legislatures only challenge the executive only when their pockets are at stake. The judiciary is for the highest bidder. The executive wants to corner all the power. And in such a mess, nothing progressive has been achieved all these years.

Iraq, Libya, Egypt are classical cases to show that democracy doesn't always work. Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East figured it out a long time ago and they are progressing. No matter the best of intentions, put anything good into the hands of Nigerians in government and watch how it will be turned upside down for the benefits of the kleptocrats.
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InvertedHammer:
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I have argued on many occassions that democracy is not good for Nigeria. It has been grossly abused.

In response to your position, there is no oversight. An institution cannot police itself as has been shown by the executive, legislative and judiciary arms of government in Nigeria. Democracy seems only good on papers considering the ways it is being implemented in Nigeria. Scandal after scandal, everything is swept under the proverbial carpet.

Nigeria needs a mix of democracy and dictatorship. As it is, the legislatures only challenge the executive only when their pockets are at stake. The judiciary is for the highest bidder. The executive wants to corner all the power. And in such a mess, nothing progressive has been achieved all these years.

Iraq, Libya, Egypt are classical cases to show that democracy doesn't always work. Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East figured it out a long time ago and they are progressing. No matter the best of intentions, put anything good into the hands of Nigerians in government and watch how it will be turned upside down for the benefits of the kleptocrats.
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LastProphet:
it takes time to gather evidence before moving on anyone especially a judge, PMB has only arrested 2 and u can hear what those criminal tribes are saying already?

omohayek:
I despise corruption as much as anyone, but there are good and bad ways of combating it; subverting the rule of law and undermining the independence of the judiciary is definitely not one of them. On what constitutional grounds can the DSS carry out an action such as this?

Even if these justices are each ten times as corrupt as Sani Abacha, I would think that the right way to handle the situation is by impeaching them, and having them tried by the appropriate NASS committees, not through the executive arm issuing orders to have them locked up. This looks to me to be a clear violation of the separation of powers. Of course, given how little regard most Nigerians have for such constitutional niceties, I fully expect loads of idiots to cheer on this action regardless.

omohayek:
"Separation of powers" is a well-defined constitutional concept - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers - and the point is to prevent governments from degenerating into tyrannies. And yes, it does mean that one arm of government can't simply decide that it has the responsibility to unilaterally purge another, otherwise a slide into dictatorship would be almost inevitable.

omohayek:
"Separation of powers" is a well-defined constitutional concept - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers - and the point is to prevent governments from degenerating into tyrannies. And yes, it does mean that one arm of government can't simply decide that it has the responsibility to unilaterally purge another, otherwise a slide into dictatorship would be almost inevitable.

omohayek:
But would you count Saddam's Iraq, Ghaddafi's Libya or Egypt under Mubarak and Sisi as successful counter-arguments against democracy? Would you wish to be a woman, a non-Muslim or even a Shiite under the Saudi monarchy?

I'm old enough to remember the dictatorships from Buhari to Abubakar, and no matter how rotten Nigeria's current democracy may seem, it is still far better than the military regimes at their worst. At least under a democratic regime one has the freedom to not just complain but even insult bad leaders like GEJ and the "new" Buhari; under the "old" Buhari Decree No. 4 would have seen most of us criticizing him on here summarily detained without charge.

Nigerian democracy is massively flawed due to the ill-educated and tribalistic nature of the Nigerian populace, but the dictatorial alternative has all of the exact same problems without even the benefit of freedom of dissent.

Wadeoye:
You haven't answered my question... Which section of the constitution says judges can't be investigated or arrested? To the best of my knowledge, judges don't have immunity.

Wadeoye:
You haven't answered my question... Which section of the constitution says judges can't be investigated or arrested? To the best of my knowledge, judges don't have immunity.

sanpipita:
Judges can be investigated but through NJC, only through NJC you can investigate and nail any judge

InvertedHammer:
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There is no freedom of dissent in democracy or dictatorship. People criticized the Presidents under the two systems and paid for it. Dictatorial IBB and Abacha murdered as many dissenting voices as democratic OBJ whose Attorney-General became a victim too. GEJ is no saint either. Could GEJ fight Nigerians on twitter, facebook or listservs? He only accepted the reality. If Nnamdi Kanu hadn't visited Nigeria, do you think Nigeria could have stopped his IPOB movement? Have you forgotten how many online publishers (eg. Elendu) were arrested on arrival at International airports in Nigeria during Yar'Adua/GEJ's tenure? People forget so soon. Members of MASSOB and now IPOB were massacred equally under democratic GEJ and PMB. Go figure! Technology is the nemesis of dictators.

The difference is that the advent of social media has given the masses an unlimited power to throw jabs at their leaders from a safe distance. Inability to arrest dissenters should not be misconstrued as tolerance of criticism.
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InvertedHammer:
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Technically, they were neither investigated nor nailed.

They were arrested.
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omohayek:
Of course judges can be investigated and arrested, just not by the DSS on Buhari's orders. If you bother to look at said constitution, you'll see that the appropriate body for investigating and punishing judges is the National Judicial Council (NJC), a body which is entirely independent of the executive (i.e. Buhari and the DSS). Allowing the executive to arrest judges completely undermines any notion of judicial independence, which means a president can simply railroad his enemies by accusing them of "corruption", safe in the knowledge that the judges will be too scared to disagree with his accusations. This is how dictatorships are born.

passyhansome:
It spells impunity. Usually Supreme Courts justices are investigated and sanctioned by the NJC before they will be prosecuted and jailed if found guilty.

They are not usually arrested in commando styles as they are senior citizens who are dignified for their many years of meritorious service.

This regime does not understand the norms and democracy. They are always in a hurry to make mistakes and fall prey to ridicule.

Pidggin:
Did you notice that there is no northerner amongst them and these are the same people that have previously ruled against FG/APC? I know you are entitled to your opinion but right now your comment is very annoying and insensitive

omonnakoda:
There is no different pathway for criminal investigation of judges in the constitution. I am commenting generally without reference to this matter specifically , But investigations and prosecution is not the remit of the NJC. The NJC cannot ,CANNOT give jail terms ,it is not a court. If a judge is accuse of rape or kidnapping it is NOT for the NJC to investigate and punish

sanpipita:
Judges can be investigated but through NJC, only through NJC you can investigate and nail any judge

OnucheAdams:
I agree with you; democracy has grossly underdeveloped Nigeria. I am all for bringing these justices to book...

gimbayaro:
Buhari is looking for trouble,he will die same way col. Gadaffi & sadam Hussain died. He has turn this country into something else. No more respect for the Judiciary and the legislature, he do as he wishes .... i have lost hope in my country....Am smelling big war coming