CACOL backs NBA’s call for suspension of suspected corrupt judges

Recently, the Judiciary has come under scathing public criticisms sequel to the allegations and counter-allegations over corruption crimes perpetrated by some Judges. The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL had in its initial response to the hue and cry over the arrest of the suspected corrupt judges said that there was need for circumspection in approaching the arrest of the suspected corrupt Judges in order be able to do an objective analysis of the whole situation beyond distractions, while insisting that judges were not above the law.

The Coalition also viewed the scenario from the point of dialecticism and as a window of opportunity to name and shame those of questionable characters who has persistently abused the sensibilities of the majority within the rank and files of the Bar and the Bench.

The Executive Chairman of CACOL, Mr. Debo Adeniran while responding to the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA’s latest position on the case of the suspected corrupt judges advising them to step aside from official judiciary functions pending the outcome of the already commenced judicial processes to establish the veracity of the allegations against them, said “we had told all aggrieved persons to submit to the constitution of the country by using every constitutional means to prove or disprove their innocence in all the allegations against them.”

“We thus welcome the latest suggestion from the NBA to the suspected judges as it falls in line with the advice we gave to all those alleged to have committed corruption crimes in the positions as Judges in the country’s ‘Temple of Justice’. We commend the NBA for the courage to allow logic to guide the situation before us a country as it concerns the obvious sharp practices that has been going on, and still subsisting in the Judiciary.”

The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Abubakar Mahmud (SAN), who had been overtly critical of the Department of State Security, DSS’s arrest of some suspected corrupt judges in a recent statement, recommended that the National Judicial Council, NJC should suspend some serving judges.

Adeniran said that this is a different position from the one the NBA previously took, “they had condemned the DSS for the raid and arrest of the suspected judges and described it as blatant disregard for due process and against the rule of law. It is a good signal that the NBA has finally come to realize the logical need for the suspension of the affected judges.”

In concluding, the CACOL Chairman regretted that so much time had been spent in attacking the DSS, which he said was unnecessary as it served only as a distraction from the real subject of contention. He averred that “whatever positions the National Judicial Commission, NJC and the NBA takes on the issue of suspension of alleged corrupt judges, would tell us if the judiciary is on the side of the masses or on the side of protecting their own in the light of corruption allegations against its members.”