Why CJN rebuked Nigerian politicians
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Walter Onnoghen, on Friday, May 12, came hard on Nigerian politicians when he asserted that they have always tried to bribe judicial officials, including Supreme Court justices, to influence cases in their favour.
The shocking pronouncement made by the nation’s top judge while ruling in the suit by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Uche Ogah, against Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, later generated reactions from lawyers.
The CJN criticised the political class for constantly aiming to compromise the integrity of the judicial process. Citing instances where politicians had attempted to bribe officials of the bench, he made it clear that the alleged breach in the Abia judgment would be investigated and culprits prosecuted.
“Politicians, stop interfering with the judiciary. I have to say this because it is becoming too much,” he said.
“When you get a judgment, take it as it is because that is what it is, particularly from the Supreme Court bench. I want to let you know that there has been security breach in this case and it should not repeat itself: and we will investigate.
“Why should you be interested in what we decide? You have brought your case here, filed your pleadings, and many of your lawyers are before us arguing your case. Why should you now bribe court officials and try to know what the judgment is and who is writing which judgment? Because the problem we are facing in the judiciary is that of the politicians and perception by the public. So that nobody loses a case and believes that it is in accordance with the facts of the case and the law. What is happening?” he asked.
Reacting to the comment, an official in the CJN’s office said he spoke openly and clearly about the situation, explaining that the “CJN cannot open his mouth just like that without facts. So he had said what he had to say. It is left for the lawyers and other stakeholders to react.”
Senior Advocate of Nigeria involved in one of the high profile cases, who preferred anonymity, said some of the instances mentioned by the CJN, such as the case of Rivers State, are well known to the public, maintaining that the existence of corruption in the judiciary was not in doubt.
“It is true that politicians use senior lawyers to try to reach the judges or court officials to influence their cases,” he said.
Also reacting, Okechukwu Onwukwe, a lawyer, supported the CJN’s stance on corrupt influences in the judiciary, adding that, “for the CJN to raise that alarm; it must be true. There is no smoke without fire. It should be discouraged. If the executive arm always tries to manipulate the judiciary, it does not augur well for our democracy.”
Onwukwe recalled the raid on the houses of judges by the Department of State Security Services (DSS) on October 8, 2016, where several judges were arrested for alleged corruption, and said the CJN was right in coming to the defence of the country’s third arm of government.
He also blamed the tactics of parties with bad cases, who would look for loopholes in procedure or technicalities to capitalise on and mess up the case of the opposing party, as some of the actions fueling unethical practices by lawyers.
Abuja-based public interest lawyer, Daniel Bwala, also blamed lawyers for the woes of the judiciary and the society. He said lawyers kept goading their clients to believe that there could be a way round a case rather than focus on giving them the right counsel.
However, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who is one of the lead counsels in the Abia matter, who craved anonymity, expressed surprise at the CJN’s comment, arguing that it was inconceivable that a judgment of the Supreme Court could be influenced by financial inducement when panel members were usually unknown and their findings were usually based on the facts of the case.
He, however, confirmed that at a stage in the case, there were rumours from opposing camps that court officials could be approached in respect of the matter which turned out false.
In the same vein, Ilorinbased Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Abeny Mohammed, dismissed claims of corruption in the judiciary.
“I will be the last to believe that Supreme Court justices are being bribed. It is a wild allegation; it does not exist. Considering that these justices work very hard to go through the records and documents before delivering their judgment, there is no time for such at all,” he said.
“The justices that were arrested by the DSS; how many have been convicted? So I still stand by my position that it is difficult to bribe a Supreme Court judge. But those who say they have bribed Supreme Court judges in the past should come forward and testify. I cannot say that there are no bad judges, like in the Federal High Court there are a lot of corrupt judges,” he added.
The allegations of corruption in the judiciary came to the fore after the DSS raids in 2016 with two of the arrested judges accusing two serving ministers, who are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of visiting their residences at the Judges’ Quarters in Abuja with a request to influence some pending 2015 governorship elections petitions in some states.
When faced with similar pressure from politicians, with one governor reported to have driven personally to seek audience with him, the immediate past CJN, Mahmud Mohammed, proactively rescheduled Supreme Court proceedings to last till midnight with pleadings and decisions taken on the same day.
He also ensured that panel members who decided the governorship petitions of Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Ebonyi, Ogun, Oyo, Kebbi, Rivers, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara states between January and March, 2016, did not know about their postings until few hours to the hearings, while the lawyers in the matter were notified in the same manner.
Some chieftains of both the APC and PDP criticised the Supreme Court after its decisions in some states did not go the way they had wanted.
Many believe the CJN has raised the integrity bar for his constituency which he would follow during his tenure.