The Department of
State Services (DSS) cleared Monica Dongban-Mensem before the National Judicial
Council (NJC) recommended her as the president of the court of appeal
Garba Shehu,
presidential spokesman, had said in a statement on Sunday that the relevant
security agencies are not done with screening her.
This, he said, was
why President Muhammadu Buhari has not forwarded her name to the senate for
confirmation but instead appointed her in an acting position.
However, TheCable reports that an NJC
insider disclosed that before any judicial officer is recommended to the
president for appointment, DSS clearance is a requirement in line with the
procedural rules of the council.
Rule 4(2)(e)
provides that before a candidate can be considered for appointment, there must
be a “report by the Department of State Security on the suitability of the
candidate for appointment to a judicial office supported by verifiable facts on
which the report is based and, in addition, stating clearly whether the
Department kept a file on the candidate and, if so, whether the file contains
reports adverse to the candidate being appointed as Judicial Officer.”
The insider said
Dongban-Mensem was cleared by the secret police before her name was forwarded
to the president for appointment.
“Before NJC would
interview anybody, they must have got back a report from DSS and their
interview will be based on the report of the DSS,” the source said.
“In her case, she
was cleared by the DSS and there was no adverse report about her.
“Her name was sent
along with those recommended for appointment in the FCT judiciary and the
president is supposed to sign all of them together. But they forwarded
everything again to the DSS.”
A senior lawyer, who
said he should not be quoted for fear of victimisation, told TheCable that the
only role the president is expected to play, as stipulated in the law, is to
forward the name of the nominee to the senate.
“If the senate
clears her, the president will announce the appointment. If the senate does
not, then the NJC will nominate someone else. The president is just a conveyor
belt in the process,” he said.
“However, if there
is an adverse security report, the president can only send the report along
with her nomination to the senate, not take the law into his own hands. Let the
senate reject her on the basis of the report.
“More so,
Dongban-Mensem was screened and nominated over three months ago. What other
screening is the DSS doing that it cannot complete in three months? Or is it
the FBI or CIA that will do the screening? For someone who has already been
screened and cleared before by the DSS, you have to suspect that there is a
game going on.”
Shehu had said on
Sunday: “The president has a duty to ensure that all such appointments meet the
requirements of the constitution and protecting the supreme law of the land in
this regard, he has an obligation to allow law enforcement and security
agencies to do their work.
“Don’t forget our
recent experience with ministers who were signed off upon and turned out as
having not undertaken the compulsory National Youth Service, just to give you
an example.”
TheCable had
reported dirt-digging is being employed by some presidential advisers to get Dongban-Mensem
disqualified and pave the way for Mohammed Lawal Garba, the judge who chaired
the 2019 presidential election petitions tribunal that ruled in favour of
Buhari.
A source said her
national youth service record is being scrutinised
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