Constitutional lawyer and human
rights activist, Inibehe Effiong, has slammed Tanko Mohammad, the acting Chief
Justice of Nigeria, CJN, and other judicial officers for honouring a private
dinner with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Villa on Thursday.
The Lagos-based lawyer said it
was against the rule of the judiciary for the CJN and judicial officials to
attend such gathering.
In series of tweets, Effiong
noted that when the head of the judicial arm dines with a President who has a
petition challenging his election before the courts, then something is not
right.
He wrote, “Rule 1.4 states: The
Judge must be sensitive to the need to avoid contacts that may lead people to
speculate that there is a special relationship between him and someone whom the
judge may be tempted to favour in some way in the course of his judicial
duties.
“1.5 states: A judicial officer
must avoid social relationships that are improper or may give rise to an
appearance of impropriety or that may cast doubt on the ability of a judicial
officer to decide cases impartially.”
“It is in Nigeria that
intellectuals defend the madness and impropriety of politicians with so much
Passion.
“When you have the head of the
judicial arm, dining with a President who has publicly asserted his disdain for
the rule of law, a President who has a petition challenging his election before
the courts, at a time that the judiciary is plagued by a crisis of confidence,
and you still come here and insult me over my harmless observation, is there
hope for the future of Nigeria?”
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