By KEMI KASUMU
A concerned Nigerian and member of 17 serious social media groups including I Am A Buhari which he administers, and APC Worldwide Platform and President Muhammadu Okechukwu Adewale Buhari Till 2019, Mr. Godwin Obue, has challenged Nigerian Judiciary including their adjoining professionals, the lawyers and particularly the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on the need to take up an immediate responsibility of self cleansing.
Obue, who posted this on I AM A BUHARIST group page on Sunday, said it was ironical that a member of the Judicial would be asked to face the law for being allegedly corrupt and defaulting in declaring his assets as chief law officer of a country as Africa’s most populous as Nigeria, and that an opposition party like Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would be calling on President of the United States of America, Mr. Donald Trump, to intervene and some Judges and lawyers do not see anything wrong in such politicization of the bench.
Godwin Obue is angry that, a man who has continued to threaten American Justice Department and FBI on daily basis and who insults and uses derogatory remarks on Judges on national television and on his Twitter handle and who allowed the Chief Justice of United States of America in bench after being accused of corruption or an unethical behavior, is being lobbied by opposition PDP to save a suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Nkanu Samuel Onnoghen, under the watch of the National Judicial Council (NJC) and NBA.
Worse being that he also is not happy that members of the bench and bar in the country are not only seen to be actively supportive of the PDP’s action but also that some Justices of the Supreme Council of Nigeria even reportedly boycotted the first function to be performed by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Honourable Justice Ibrahim Tanko Mohammed, where he inaugurated 250 General Elections Tribunals’ Judges on Saturday.
Asking to know from those kicking against the suspension of Onnoghen to say publicly if the US and UK they are calling upon to support their ‘judicial corruption’ can, as systems, allow a Chief Justice to remain in bench after being accused of corruption or an unethical behaviour in their own respective countries, Obue was dismayed that it was common knowledge that corruption had thrived in the Nigerian society to the extent that Nigerian people saw it as a career.
He noted that a lot of corruption cases are pending in court particularly under the suspended CJN in question and expressed sadness most of the Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) are found behind the effort to push the cases under carpet thus leading to the drag, even, according to him, as most of the cases dispensed upon had been dismissed on technical ground by Judges.
Godwin Obue apparently disappointed, to be found in a country where such members of the judiciary and bar compromise justice, beefed that “It’s very hard to see any of the ‘big fish’ found guilty of corruption, even when it is so obvious.”
He then asked them that cry of impacts of corruption as bane of development in Nigeria but who do not want President Muhammadu Buhari to succeed in his anti-corruption war on behalf of the masses of the Nigerian people, to state one contribution that Onnoghen had made in ensuring discharge of his duty on justice administration in the country.
“What’s the Chief Justice doing to reduce the number of corruption cases awaiting trial? What judicial reform has he initiated? A corrupt bench cannot defend the constitution. Darkness cannot drive darkness. The only people that can bring respect and honor to the bench is the judiciary itself,” he said.
Read details of the Godwin Obue’s post: “I challenge lawyers, judges, Nigeria Bar Association, and Judicial Council of Nigeria to do the needful.
“Its ironic, to hear and see some PDP’s loyalists and sympathizers want a man who fired Attorney General, FBI Director, and threatened to fire Special counsel for investigating his campaign (for obstruction of justice and collusion with adversaries to undermined America’s elections) to intervene in the suspension of Nigerian Chief Justice who is being accused of corruption.
“A man who has continued to threaten American Justice Department and FBI on daily bases. A man who insult and uses derogatory remarks on Judges on national television and on his Twitter.
“The same man who called Africa countries “shithole” because of the corruption in high places.
“In US and UK can a Chief Justice remain in bench after been accused of corruption or an unethical behaviour?
“It’s in our full knowledge that corruption thrive in our society and people see corruption as a career. A lots of corruption cases are pending in court, and most of these cases are been defended by Senior Advocate of Nigeria. Most of the cases are dismissed on technical ground by judges. It’s very hard to see any of the “big fish” found guilty of corruption, even when it is so obvious.
““Judiciary is the hope of the common man”? But in Nigeria, justice is for the affluence. Every now and then, politicians ( Executive and Legislature) and their associates loot our common wealth, and when caught and charged with corruption, their judicial collaborators used their expertise and loopholes in our judicial system to exonerate them. Why will corruption cases be pending in court for over ten years? What’s the Chief Justice doing to reduce the numbers of corruption cases waiting trial? What judicial reform has he initiate? A corrupt bench cannot defend the constitution. Darkness cannot drive darkness.
“The only people that can bring respect and honor to the bench is the judiciary itself.”
