Popular human rights lawyer,
Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has dragged the Lagos state publicity secretary of the All
Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Joe Igbokwe before a Federal High Court, Lagos,
seeking to sanction him for accusing the Supreme Court of selling justice to
the governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike.
Igbokwe had written on his
Facebook page: “Wike will not have the audacity and the temerity to kill again
in Rivers state and run to the Supreme Court to buy Justice. It will never
happen again in Nigeria where Buhari is President.”
In a 32 paragraph affidavit
deposed to in support of the new suit, Mr. Adegboruwa claimed that Mr.
Igbokwe’s post was capable of generating loss of confidence in the judicial
system.
According to him, such a
situation of zero confidence in the judiciary could discourage people from
seeking redress from the law courts and which would in turn lead to lawlessness
and resort to self-help and rule of the might.
He also said that it will lead to
loss of patronage for lawyers, who would no longer be able to handle cases in
court, given that it is now possible to buy justice with money.
Adegboruwa contended that as a
public officer, Mr. Igbokwe should not be involved in disparaging other public
institutions and that his offending post is a clear case of abuse of public
trust for which he should be sanctioned appropriately.
He contended further that the
Attorney-General of the Federation, being the leader of the official Bar in
Nigeria and chief law officer of the federation, was the one best placed to
take up the case against Mr. Igbokwe, on behalf of the judiciary, lawyers and
indeed the general public.
The rights lawyer disclosed that
before filing the suit, he took up the Facebook post with Mr. Igbokwe asking
him to substantiate his claims.
Similarly, the Rivers State
Government also demanded explanations from Mr. Igbokwe and threatened court
action.
Subsequently, the Chief Justice
of Nigeria, invited security agencies to probe Mr. Igbokwe’s allegations and
deal with the judges found culpable and if the allegations are false, to take
appropriate steps to prosecute Mr. Igbokwe.
Rather than withdraw the
offending post, Mr. Igbokwe proceeded to issue a more comprehensive post,
wherein he specifically stated that the Chief Justice of Nigeria was under the
influence and payroll of Mr. Nyesom Wike.
Reliefs sought in the case are
also follows: “A declaration that Joe Igbokwe is not entitled to make any
statement to the effect that a judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria was
bought and paid for.
“A declaration that the statement
of Joe Igbokwe, to the effect that the judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria
was bought and paid for is reckless, unjustifiable and amounts to an
unwarranted denigration of the integrity and authority of the Supreme Court of
Nigeria in particular and the judiciary in general.
“A declaration that Joe Igbokwe
is not a fit and proper person to be elected or appointed into or to hold any
public office in any part of the federation of Nigeria.
“An order directing the Abubakar
Malami to forthwith interview, engage and demand proof from the 2nd defendant,
of the latter’s statement that the judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria was
bought and paid for, failing which the said 1st defendant should forthwith
prosecute the saidJoe Igbokwe.
“Perpetual injunction restraining
Joe Igbokwe, his servants, officers and agents, or otherwise howsoever, from
further issuing, uttering, publishing or making any statement, of and
concerning the judiciary and the legal profession in Nigeria, capable of
undermining the credibility, authority, integrity and sanctity of judgments of
the Supreme Court of Nigeria and of all other courts in in Nigeria, generally.
“An order directing Joe Igbokwe
to forthwith vacate, relinquish and surrender any and all public positions that
he presently occupies.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise 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