Stop playing ostrich, you have power to change system, Clark reminds him
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Kayode Ariwoola has been told to use the power in his hand to reform the judiciary instead of playing the ostrich, pretending that all his well, then gaslight the populace and justify injustice to entrench a rotten legal system.
South South leader Edwin Clark, the “brutally frank” elder statesman, made the call in Abuja and tagged it a matter of urgency for Ariwoola to carry out a holistic reform of the judiciary, warning corruption, malpractices, and naked abuse of the office can no longer be tolerated.
Ariwoola himself is caught up in an allegation of nepotism, having in October sworn in his son, Olukayode Jr, among 23 new Federal High Court Judges; and this month appointed his younger brother, Adebayo, as National Judicial Commission (NJC) Auditor.
Ariwoola is the head of the NJC which appoints and promotes federal Judges, and disciplines all erring Judges, federal and state.
Clark stressed in an open letter to Ariwoola that what is going on in the judiciary is a big dent on the image of the noble profession, and Ariwoola has every authority to reform the judiciary as done by former CJN Dahiru Musdapher in 2011 when he appointed a committee headed by former CJN Mohammad Uwais to restructure and reposition the third arm of government.
He urged Ariwoola to investigate the activities of some judicial and non-judicial officers of courts involved in corrupt practices and Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) who help perpetrate these crimes after collecting huge professional fees.
Clark explained he decided to speak up because many in his social class are not willing to talk about certain issues.
“It has also been reported in the news media that the current CJN appears disinterested even when there is the report with which he can institute the reform,” Clark, a lawyer, wrote in the letter to Ariwoola.
“I gathered from the media that your lordship dislikes public opinion and demonstration by civil right organisations, and that other respected public opinions should not influence the judges in their deliberation, which is contradictory to the views held by the former CJN, Justice Musdapher.
“This is the main reason I have decided to write this open letter to your lordship because I believe and am confident that your lordship can do it as it was done by your predecessor in office.
“I have the honour to be your most obedient Minister of the Temple of Justice.
“My lord, I hope my letter will not come to you as a surprise but if it does, I sincerely apologise for any inconveniences and embarrassment it may cause you.
“Even though I am 96, and as I always said, I have collected my boarding pass waiting for the Almighty God to call me home. But in my usual character as a senior citizen of our great country, hence, I have decided to address this letter to you.
“I am an old member of the Bar for about 59 years now, most of which I devoted serving the nation in various capacities.
“As a result of recently painful events in the judiciary and in the Bar, I am compelled to write this second open letter to your lordship in my usual character to sound a note of warning to the judiciary and the Bar.”
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Onnoghen saga as a precursor
“The humiliation and inhumane treatment meted to the former CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen, remains a black spot on the judiciary and the Nigerian Bar. A public boycott of the courts by NBA which would have been total was ineffectively done by a few lawyers for a few days,” Clark added, per Vanguard.
“The President of the NBA at the time, Mr. Paul Usoro, was confronted by me at the time for not speaking out on behalf of the NBA. He was either afraid of the outcome of the consequences of the criminal charges he was facing in the Federal High Court at the time, and many of us lost interest in the NBA that time.
“Indeed, I believe that it was a conspiracy between the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the Presidency because they did not want Justice Onoghen to be responsible for the nomination of Judges for the various tribunals that will be set up after the 2019 Presidential election, whereby an exparte motion was filed by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, at the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB.
“Thereafter, Justice Onoghen was suspended by President Muhammadu Buhari, and nominated Justice Tanko Muhammed to act as CJN without the involvement of the NJC.
“Justice Muhammed immediately nominated and screened several Judges of the High Court as proposed members of the Judicial Tribunals to try all the cases after the Presidential election.
“Unfortunately, the NJC did not challenge the action of Mr. President, [on] why Justice Onoghen was shamelessly humiliated out of the service. Still agitating in my mind is whether under the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the President can alone suspend a Chief Justice of Nigeria or he can appoint an acting CJN without the participation of NJC. Is it constitutional?”
Judges hobnobbing with Senators with pending court cases
“[Another] concern is the socialisation between the judiciary and some Senators, who are facing criminal charges in their courts.
“One of the easiest ways that the Judges could be influenced [is] when some of these Senators facing trials in the court freely meet with the CJN and other Judges at parties, occasions or at government functions and other public gatherings.
“Also, [it] is embarrassing, conflicting and contradicting judgments by the same court sitting in various states in the country have now become the order of the day which have now extended to the Court of Appeal.”