There is something between President Muhammadu Buhari and the judiciary, from his days as a maximum ruler to the present democratic dispensation which clearly spells out the functions of the three arms of government and gurantees the independence of one from the other. The recent arrests of seven top members of the judiciary in what the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has described as Gestapo style operation by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) has further opened old wounds.
It has also done more damage to the fight against corruption. Supreme Court Justices Inyang Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta, Justice Mohammed Tsamiya of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin, Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court Abuja, Chief Judge of Enugu State, Jusice I.A. Umezulike, Justice Kabir Auta of the Kano High Court as well as Justice Muazu Pindiga of the Gombe High Court, were taken from their homes in a midnight raid.
The DSS slammed allegations of corruption on the judges, claiming that huge sums of money in various denominations were recovered from the homes of some of them. While we applaud President Buhari’s fight against corruption in all facets of the society, it is important that he goes about it mindful of the fact that since he swore to defend the constitution of the Federal Republic, there is need to follow the due process and the rule of law.
No citizen is above the law. Judges who have the power of life and death over compatriots, must also subject themselves to the laws of the land. Breaching the law is as criminal as the common criminals who are sentenced to the gallows. However, it is also nauseating for operatives who are paid with tax payers sweat to go to the homes of any body, hooded, to carry out arrests at odd hours and in the presence of terrified family members including women and minors.
Expectedly, condemnations have trailed the invasion. The Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, could not conceal the embarrassment. He said: “It is indeed very saddening and deeply regrettable, the distressing and unfortunate incident, which occurred on Friday October 7 and Sunday October 8, 2016.
President of the NBA, Abubakar Mahmoud, did not mince words: “We view these actions as illegal and unconstitutional and a threat to the independence of the judiciary and must be aimed at intimidating the judiciary and the legal profession,” he said. It is sad that due process was not followed. The National Judicial Council (NJC) has the statutory duty of handling cases involving judges and has not been a dormant part of the fight against corruption.
Before the raid, the body had recommended Umezulike, Auta and Tsamiya for sanctions. It is also to the credit of Justice Mahmoud who is spending his last days as CJN, that a lot of reforms have taken place in the judiciary. In all this, it is possible that President Buhari had been kept in the dark. His presidency covers the DSS as well as the Nigeria Police Force.
While superior officers may be planning a mass purge of the police in Rivers State, we commend the state police commissioner for aborting what could have been bloodshed in Port Harcourt. The DSS, which was created from the police, does not have the power to do the job of the police.
It also does not have the power to usurp the functions of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (CPC) or stand in for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Governor Nyesom Wike had to wade in when the DSS operatives stormed another judge’s home in the Garden City. As the Chief Security Officer of Rivers State, the governor did the needful because it was not clear to him at the time that those hooded invaders were not a band of insurgents who could have come to disturb the peace of the state.
The judiciary acts as a check to balance our democracy. While not absolving anyone of any wrong doing, we urge President Buhari to beware of some of the men around him who may be doing jobs outside their jurisdiction. At the end, no one would remember what they did, posterity can only remember what the president did not do to check them.
During the president’s tenure as military leader, there were actions and decrees which brought the judiciary to disrepute. Justice Adebayo Desalu will continue to be remembered as the judge who chaired the tribunal that sentenced three young Nigerians to death for drug related offences. Many flawed the retroactive effect of the punishment. Justice Gregory Okoro-Idogu never recovered from his role in sending Afro beat king, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, to jail over possession of foreign currency.
The same Fela cost him his plum job even under maximum detention. The president must resist the temptation to step into the realm of the judiciary and the legislature, that is one sure way of enjoying his tenure and giving his best. And he must not allow politicians to trick him into a field that will create more confusion. There are clear ways of fighting corruption.
