CJN says critics of judiciary are ignorant

Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Mahmud Mohammed, has explained that those calling judicial officers corrupt are inconsiderate and ignorant of how the judiciary operates.
Mohammed while speaking at the valedictory session held in honour of a retiring Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Muhammad Muntaka-Coomassie in Abuja on Wednesday said “though constantly striving to redress wrongs and tilt the balance in favour of that which is right, has recently had to face the backlash of misguided opinions fashioned without due consideration of the law and rationale for the system of government that we operate.”

He declared, “I make bold to declare that the qualities of conscience and duty are essential to the functioning of our Judiciary.”

The judiciary, he said, “is duty bound to act in accordance with the dictates of the law as it stands and not as critics would like it to be. In this sense, naive idealism is, but a pale limitation of legal certainty and it is in observing the career and jurisprudence of such eminent jurists as my lord, Honourable Justice Muntaka-Coomassie that we see this most clearly.”

On his part, President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Augustine Alegeh (SAN) also condemned those disparaging the image of the Judiciary saying it is a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of Judges and the judiciary.

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The NBA boss stated that it is unfortunate that politicians commend the Supreme Court only when decisions favour them.

Alegeh deplored what he described as the “generalisation and/or categorisation” of the Judiciary as corrupt and a stumbling block to the Buhari administration’s war against corruption

Meanwhile, the office of the Attorney General of the federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Alhaji Abubakar Malami SAN has written a petition to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Mahmud Mohammed against a Federal High Court Judge- Justice Muhammed Nasir Yunusa.

The petition seeks for disciplinary action to be taken against the erring judge while a similar petition was also sent to the Inspector General of Police to investigate the criminal aspect of the allegation.

In the petition, Justice Muhammed Nasir Yunasa was alleged to have issued two conflicting and contradictory orders on July 4, 2014 in a suit No. FHC/L/CS/1042/2013.

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