Politics
DSS yet to forward any complaint against accused judges, CJN insists
Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, on Saturday insisted that the judges who were recently arrested by the Department of State Service (DSS) over corruption allegations will not be suspended.
The CJN who stated this in a statement by his Special Assistant, H. S. Sa’eed, argued that several days after the arrests, the DSS had yet to forward any complaint against the seven arrested judges.
He therefore described calls for the suspension of the judges by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) as being hasty and unnecessary since the affected judges were still being investigated by the DSS.
His position reinforced earlier refusal of the Nigeria Judicial Council (NJC), in a statement by its Acting Director, Information, Soji Oyeon, to harken to the call by NBA President Mr. Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), to suspend the affected judges.
Meanwhile, the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), in a meeting in Lagos on Saturday reportedly supported the call by the NBA for the suspension of the arrested judges.
Read also: NBA wants accused judges to step aside until after investigations
Two Supreme Court judges, Justices Inyang Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta who are among the seven judges arrested by the DSS between October 7 and 8 have openly alleged in letters to the CJN that their travails are due to their failure to oblige to the unholy demands of the Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, to subvert justice in governorship election cases involving Rivers, Ekiti, Abia, Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states.
In like manner, two other Federal High Court judges, Justices Adeniyi Ademola and Nnamdi Dimgba, had also alleged that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami masterminded their maltreatment in the hands of the DSS.
They described their travails as a vendetta for entering verdicts Malami did not like.
The rest of the three judges had earlier been recommended for either compulsory retirement or dismissal by the NJC.
By Ebere Ndukwu …
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