Vice President Yemi Osinbanjo on Tuesday justified the arrest and detention of some judges across the country by men of the Department of State Services, saying judges must be held accountable.
Osinbajo, who spoke at the 46th yearly Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria in Abuja, said courts remained public resource, hence, the need for judges to be accountable.
The Vice President who represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the opening ceremony of the conference also said that accountants had been found wanting in the performance of their duties.
He said, “Part of the reasons why things are not working well in Nigeria as they ought to is the inability to hold officials accountable for their tasks. Holding a public official to account for their responsibility going forward is going to be a key way to increase performance.
“Those who handle public or private resources must account for their performance because lack of performance can hold down a country. Courts are a public resource, therefore judges and lawyers like every other public and private official must be held accountable for their responsibilities. We must be able to hold ourselves accountable for the responsibilities that we are charged with.
“If you look at the environment, sometimes, the administration of justice; processing cases is so slow. A lot of people in the local and international business community complain that we can’t resolve a case within a reasonable time; it goes on and on and the problem with that is that it slows business and discourages investments because you can hold up major decisions because the court has not made a pronouncement.
“A situation where banks’ books certified by accountants sometimes turn out to mean something else leaves much to be desired by the accounting professionals. Accountants have been found wanting. I think we need to hold ourselves accountable a bit more. We have to hold ourselves in very high standard.”
Speaking at the conference, President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Mr. Titus Soetan, said the perception of failure of leadership and the huge deficit in the delivery of public goods to Nigerians have culminated in a certain loss of faith in Nigeria.
Soetan said accountants must deliberately join the critical mass to support and sustain the on-going anti-corruption crusade by the government, adding that government can only manage resources effectively and achieve the type of results intended with effective and accountable institutions and systems. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Enter your comment...Accountability is the wheel of progress for any private or public office to succeed
ReplyDeleteMy VP sir, you declared your assets on the assumption of office. Did you tell Nigerians how you made the money and got those houses that were alloted to you? You were a pastor before and I know that before condemning others, you must do restitution . Did you do it? An not supporting corruption anyway, but you should not cause the bridge to collapse simply because you have crossed it. Judiciary was your primary constituency, and in that note, I expected you to call the ailling members to order before taking them to the cleaners.
ReplyDeleteHe was a very successful lawyer, who ran his own firm before becoming a pastor or holding any public office, a person who became a prof. of law at age 33, with a comfortable family background... do the math...
DeleteMr Emeka, a good word but I must point out that for this coountey prosper, all hands must be on deck to fight this corruption wholeheartedly. Mr VP, may not have gotten his money through legal means as you said, but this madness of embezzlement has to stop in one way or the other. Pls, let's support the govt to chase this artificial disease from this country. God bless Nigeria!
DeleteWell said. But are the people listening ?
ReplyDeleteProbe the activities of all the accountants in the government agencies and parastatals!
ReplyDeleteWe are holding u and d president accountable 4 de mess nigeria has got in. How could u run a government 4 5months witout ministers all dis has culminated 2 recession. Cos 4 five months notin was happening petrolum, labour, finance and every tin were on hold. Dat alone is a monumental corruption. U and ur oga has ruined d nation and u are diverting attention from d main issue of fixing d nation. If truly u are fighting corruption y is dogara walking freely wit all d corruption evidence are begging 4 attention from u saints, may God help us all.
ReplyDeleteVP,well done sir.This is the type of changes we are expecting.This should also be taken to firms of chartered Accountants.Window dressing should be completely errased from the activities of chartered accountants.
ReplyDeleteNigeria needs a benevolent dictator comparable to monarchical autocracy in early Europe before we can adopt western democratic values of today.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely support the government for arresting these stunningly rich but corrupt judges. Before now, all of them thought they were untouchable. We can not simply continue to have these thieves dispensing justice on cash and carry basis.
ReplyDelete2 wrongs don't make a right. Ppl are missing the point. Do things the right way and the NBA or the judges if really corrupt will not hide under the breach of the rule of law to demand the release of those arrested. Is this not clear.
ReplyDeleteWell done! Everybody must sit up because no body is above the law
ReplyDeleteThe VP should be reminded that he is a respected lawyer and should be mindful of the legacy he sets now he is in office. As you are now in power today, tomorrow you will come down from office and become a common citizen then those things you have done wrongly start hunting after you.
ReplyDeleteIn carrying out there duties should the DSS take laws in the own hands?
Why mess up the Judiciary by convicting the Judges they arrested in the pages of the newspaper without a warrant of arrest and a court pronouncement on the Judges?
What is the role of the NJC on this matter?
I think that What ever good intention they original had in going after the Judges, has affecting the public confidence on the Judiciary.
In this instance i expected that the VP should have viewed this matter from the point of Law that says "every suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty and that it is better that 99 guilty persons are set free than convicting an Innocent man.
I urge Nigerians to rise up against this wave of action by the DSS before it is too late.