President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday
endorsed Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar’s ongoing
campaign against corrupt and underperforming judges in the country.
The President said he welcomed recent
measures taken by the National Judicial Council, under the leadership of
the CJN, towards sanitising the judicial system.
Jonathan spoke in an address at the
Centenary Law Summit organised by the Nigerian Institute of Advanced
Legal Studies with the theme, ‘Law and society: 100 years of legal
development in Nigeria’, which held in Abuja.
The CJN, at the event, declared a zero-tolerance for corruption and other forms of misconduct in the judiciary.
Mukhtar, at a separate event also on Monday, warned judges against unwholesome involvement in plea bargaining.
Addressing the Centenary Law Summit at
the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton, Jonathan expressed support
for the CJN’s policy on zero-tolerance for corruption.
“I commend the CJN’s stance on zero tolerance, especially in the issuance of interim and perpetual injunctions,” he said.
Jonathan added, “We welcome the efforts being made by the National Judicial Council under the leadership of the CJN.
“We believe she can sanitise the judicial system.”
The NJC had in recent times cracked down on various forms of misconduct among judges.
Two judges, Justice Charles Archibong of
the Federal High Court, Lagos; and Justice T. D. Naron of the High
Court of Justice, Plateau State, were in February sacked after the NJC
recommended their dismissal from office.
Also, a judge of the Federal Capital
Territory High Court, Justice Abubakar Talba, was in April suspended for
one year following public outcry over the light sentence he gave to a
convicted pension thief, Mr. John Yusuf.
Justice Talba had on January 28, 2013,
fined Yusuf N750, 000 for conniving with others to defraud the Police
Pension Office of N27.2bn.
Jonathan stressed the need for judicial
officers to live above board in order to sustain the faith of the people
in the rule of law.
The CJN in an address at the occasion, said the NJC would sustain its currents efforts at weeding out bad eggs in the judiciary.
She said, “Under my watch, there shall
be zero tolerance for corruption in the Nigerian judiciary. Zero
tolerance for contravention of code of conduct for judicial officers.
Zero tolerance for unethical conduct. Zero tolerance for abuse of
office. Zero tolerance for subversion of the political process through
collusion with unscrupulous politicians. Zero tolerance for the
indiscriminate abuse of the equitable remedy of injunction. Zero
tolerance for incompetence. Zero tolerance for indolence.
“We shall sustain the current efforts of
the National Judicial Council, which I chair, in weeding out the bad
eggs that smear the image of the Nigerian judiciary and bring opprobrium
to an institution whose role makes the difference between the rule of
law and jungle justice.”
At the other event, Mukhtar warned judges against the plea bargain system of justice.
In an address at the 2013 induction
course for newly appointed judicial officers organised by the National
Judicial Institute in Abuja, the CJN said, “I am constrained to warn you
to be careful and be wary of unwholesome involvement in plea
bargaining.
“Your primary duty is to adjudicate
fairly and impartially, no matter whose ox is gored. It amounts to gross
misconduct for you to be a party to any behind-the-scene agreement
between the prosecution and persons standing trial in your court.
“The irony of it all, my lords, is that
should anything go wrong, while the prosecution and the accused may go
to the press to offer explanation of the level of their involvement,
you, as the trial judge, do not have that luxury.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com