Abdullahi M. Gulloma
This week, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, argues that the judiciary is not to be blamed for the loss of corruption cases initiated at the courts by the federal government, through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other agencies.
Speaking after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Onnoghen specifically urged Nigerians 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,” he said. “When it comes to the judiciary, don’t be judgmental. When you are judgmental, you become prejudice.”
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 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.”
He dismissed remarks that the corruption war is losing its steam, saying that if there was any steam it would not have been possible without the contributions of the judiciary.
Equally, Onnoghen said that if there is any case of losing of steam, the reasons should not be blamed entirely on the judiciary. And, frankly speaking, he could not have said more than that.
Onnoghen, while lauding the contributions of the judiciary to the anti-corruption fight, admitted that the third arm of government had its lapses, retrogressive tendencies and interests which may be at variance to the national interests and commitment to win the anti-corruption war.
But so do all other areas of our national life including the EFCC, legislature, business and even within the executive and Presidency itself. In these places, you find all manner of characters either supporting and promoting the course of the anti-corruption war or thwarting the efforts of the administration in the course of attaining victory in the war.
Only recently, a former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, blame the EFCC for not employing ogbologbo (qualified) lawyers to handle its cases. And so it appears.
The lawyers often engaged by the EFCC and other agencies of government involved in the anti-corrupt crusade often appeared not have carried out thorough investigation and clumsy in their prosecution of cases.
For many Nigerians, the drama and publicity of arrest and arraignment of present and past political office holders at court are what make the day of the agencies, which have never hidden their disdain for diligence in the course of doing their work.
But, as Onnoghen has said, people are free to think whatever they want, but judges should be guided by “facts and the law when it comes to judicial performance or discharge of judicial responsibilities.”
The court cannot give to a prosecutor what he did not press for, nor will it deny a defendant’s right, just so it can appear to be siding with an administration that is reputed for its fight against corruption. If this is done, the course of justice will not well be served by the judiciary.
Likewise, the essence of the Buhari-led Presidency will be rendered asunder if the course of justice, as enshrined in the laws, is bastardised in the name of helping him redeem his campaign promise to kill corruption, before corruption kills us.
The Buhari-led administration should stop at nothing to adequately cater for the welfare of the people and develop the agriculture sector, which has the potential to absorb large chunk of unemployed, including women, and other crucial sectors of the economy, for this is the only way that the President’s worry can be addressed