Judges' arrest inevitable, says FG

13-10-2016 

The Federal Govern­ment on Wednes­day declared that last week’s arrest of five judges of the Federal High Court and two Justices of the Supreme Court by the Department of State Services (DSS) was in­evitable.

Through the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the government dismissed the accusations of a plot by the Presidency to ridicule and manipulate the judiciary.

The DSS had invaded the homes of some of the judg­es and detained them for al­leged corruption and profes­sional misconduct.

Addressing journalists after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the State House, Abuja, yes­terday, the minister said President Muhammadu Buhari, who chaired the session, has high regard for the judiciary, having taken refuge there when he lost three previous presiden­tial polls.

Mohammed insisted that the arrest of the judges was within the ambit of the law, pointing out that Bu­hari’s cabinet is comprised of about 12 eminent law­yers, with four of them be­ing Senior Advocates of Ni­geria (SANs).

He said the President’s fight against corruption should be appreciated with­out emotions as Nigerians must understand that the law allows for investigation and arrest of judges by law enforcement agencies.

He recalled that a certain Justice Okoli was before now arrested and tried because judges do not enjoy immu­nity from prosecution.

He claimed that prop­er procedures and warrants were always executed, includ­ing in the recent cases.

The minister stressed that in the administration’s fight against corruption, it was obvious that some sensitive toes might be stepped on, al­though the Presidency has been “careful” in handling the matter.

He said: ”I think the Fed­eral Government is being very careful with the han­dling of this particular issue. I want to state clearly that this government believes very much in the separation of powers. This government has a lot of respect for the judici­ary and for obvious reasons, not just because the Consti­tution says so, but I think probably this is one cabinet that has the highest number of lawyers as ministers.

“Also, look at Mr. Presi­dent himself. Four times he sought to be President, three times it was thwarted and all the three times he took his case to the judiciary.

“So, I can say clearly that this administration has a lot of respect for the judiciary and I think I stand by what Mallam Garba Shehu (pres­idential aide on media) said that please, do not confuse the fight against corruption as a fight against the judici­ary.

“What the government is concerned and passionate about is to fight corruption. In the process of fighting cor­ruption, it is not unusual that you step on some very sen­sitive toes but the question to ask, and I think this has been adequately answered by the Attorney-General, is that: ‘let us remove emotions from facts’.

“Again, they have tried to muddle issues by trying to say that the National Ju­dicial Commission (NJC) is the only authority that can at­tend to complaints and disci­pline; the answer once again is no.

“I want to make it clear: this government has the highest respect for the judi­ciary and we are not trying to ridicule the judiciary. We are not painting the whole of the judges with the same brush but we also have a duty to fight corruption at whatev­er level and in doing so, with­in the ambit of the law.

“Unfortunately, people have even brought up is­sues that are completely ir­relevant to the matter. Some people are saying that the rea­son why they went to some particular judge’s house is because the President wants somebody from one part of the country to be Chief Jus­tice of Nigeria. I think that is preposterous.”

The Minister stressed that the government has no inten­tion to humiliate the judici­ary, saying that those talking about the separation of pow­ers were stretching the con­cept too far.

His words: “I and mem­bers of the Executive can be invited by any arm of govern­ment and I will go; so, I think we should situate this thing in the right perspective.

“It is true that what is hap­pening today has probably never happened at this lev­el before but frankly speak­ing, and with all due respect, we do not intend to humiliate any judge. We have no inten­tion to humiliate the judici­ary but believe you me, what we have done is within the ambit of the law.”

Meanwhile, the FEC has approved a cost variation to­talling N700 million for the completion of ongoing con­struction of six Federal Sec­retariat Complexes in six states- Anambra, Gombe, Osun, Zamfara, Bayelsa and Nasarawa.

Another undisclosed cost variation was approved for the construction of a 10 meg­awatts wind farm in Katsina State, which was abandoned after the engineer handling the project was kidnapped.

Allocation for the com­pletion of the projects has been captured in this year’s budget, according to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fasho­la, who also briefed the press.

Other approvals include the development of an indus­trial port in Badagry, Lagos, and the installation of a flight training simulator at the Ni­geria Civil Aviation Train­ing College in Zaria, Kadu­na State.