Sack Justice Abang Now, Rights Group Tells NJC

Alex Enumah

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA),” has called on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to relief Justice Okon Abang of his appointment as a judge of the Federal High Court in order to preserve the integrity of the judiciary.

The call was predicated on the alleged wrongful manner in which the judge was said to have handled some political cases brought before him at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

At a press conference at the weekend in Abuja, the National Coordinator of the group, Emmanuel Onwubiko, alongside the National Director of Media, Miss Zainab Yusuf, declared that the Nigerian human rights community is worried by what they described as the destabilisation and unconstitutional roles of Justice Abang.

“Justice Abang’s presence on the bench constitutes grave threat to constitutional democracy hence our media intervention to call for immediate action to save our judiciary from global opprobrium,” Onwubiko said.

He claimed that if the NJC refused to ease out Justice Abang from the justice sector, “the democracy the country is currently trying to build would be irretrievably imperiled.”

They said: “Justice Abang has through numerous rulings aimed at scuttling multi-party democracy, undermined judicial integrity, he must be shown the way out immediately, otherwise, he may unwittingly take Nigeria to a one-party state, devoid of any form of opposition.

“On behalf of 36 registered Non-governmental organisations, we at HURIWA have already closed a black book we operated in the six geopolitical zones of the country whereby lovers of democracy and human rights endorsed, through their signatures for the Nigerian human rights community, with effect from the 2016 World Human Rights day to officially blacklist Justice Abang, declare him a clear and present danger to civil rule and human rights and to begin a global campaign to compel the relevant judicial authority such as the NJC to dismiss him forthwith from the judiciary to salvage the rapidly waning corporate image of the judicial arm of government

“The monumental cases of indiscretions of Justice Abang are so well known even as several appellate courts have through several well considered judgments lambasted him for standing the law on its head.

“For instance, on August 18, 2016, the Court of Appeal in Abuja came down heavily on Justice Abang over his ruling on June 27, 2016, removing the Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, averring that his judgment was biased and turned the law on its head.