No going back despite setbacks – FG
By Abdullahi M. Gulloma and Ibrahim Ramalan, Abuja
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, has said the judiciary was not to blame for the corruption cases recently lost in courts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other related agencies.
Speaking to State House correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Justice Onnoghen said Nigerians should to stop judging judiciary’s performance in the ongoing anti-corruption fight on the basis of the recently lost cases.
“I have told you that if you are not satisfied, the system is fashioned and designed in such a way that if you lose in the magistrate court and you are not satisfied; because someone must win and another must lose; so the loser has the chance of testing the decision on appeal. When it comes to the judiciary, don’t be judgemental. When you are judgemental, you become prejudiced,” he said.
Asked to respond to the allegation of judicial gang-up against the current anti-graft crusade, Onnoghen said, “I am not going to speculate. I am a lawyer and a judicial officer. I operate on facts and the law. So, I can’t answer that question because I am not on everybody’s mind.
“You are free to think whatever you want to think, but I think you should be guided by facts and the law when it comes to judicial performance or discharge of judicial responsibilities.”
The CJN also dismissed remarks that the corruption war is losing steam, saying, if there was any steam, it would not have been without the contribution of the judiciary and that if there was losing of steam, it should not be blamed entirely on the judiciary.
Meanwhile, the federal government has called on Nigerians not to be discouraged by the recent setbacks in the war against corruption, promising that the serial negative outcome of corruption cases that were recorded at the High Court level would not dampen the anti-graft battle.
In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, assured Nigerians that government had “appealed against the negative decisions” and would head for the Court of Appeal.
He also disclosed that all the judgements were being rigorously reviewed “to determine whether there were errors on our part or whether the government is the victim of mischief.”
“The war against corruption is going to be long, tough and arduous, but this administration is equipped, physically, mentally and intellectually, for the long haul.
“We must win this war because the law is our side, the people are on our side and God is on our side. This is only the beginning, so any setback will not deter or discourage us,” he said.
He appealed to Nigerians to continue to identify with what he described as “a titanic struggle,” noting that “this is not Buhari’s war; it is Nigeria’s war of liberation from poverty, misery, sickness and wretchedness.”
According to him, Nigeria cannot afford unnecessary technicalities as far as the war against corruption is concerned, especially, because of the adverse and devastating consequences of corruption on the polity.
“Nigerians will appreciate more the grave and dire consequences of corruption, when they consider that the $9.2 million found in a village house in Southern Kaduna can finance the construction of one health centre in each of the 774 local governments in Nigeria and fund them for one year.
“The government is, therefore, more determined than ever to recover as much of this plundered funds as possible and use them to put our youths back to work, fix our roads and other infrastructure, equip our hospitals and universities and invest in electricity in order to bring our industries back to life and bring back some level of comfort to our homes and offices.”
