The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, has warned the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, not to go beyond bounds in its political utterances about the judiciary. This is in view of the opposition party’s allegation that the Court of Appeal is unduly interfering in the various cases before the various election petition tribunals.
The CJN through his media aide, Ahuraka Isah, wrote yesterday that “Somebody has to counsel Metuh to avoid treading where he has limited knowledge, because Judiciary is not where one makes allegations without proofs.”
It would be recalled that the PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the previous day alleged that the Court of Appeal had been meddling in court cases with a view to swaying them in favour of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Metuh expressed the intent of his party to draw the attention of the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa to reports of undue interferences, emanating from her office, in the activities of various election petition tribunals and other judicial cases, ostensibly to sway them against the PDP and in favour of the ruling APC.
He also called on Justice Mohammed to jealously guard the independence of the judiciary, and ensure that any activity that tends to undermine the sanctity of that arm of government is stiffly resisted in the interest of democracy.
“While we would not want to believe that the President of the Court of Appeal is so involved, given the sensitivity of her office, we wish to caution, in very strong terms, that such is completely unacceptable as it principally detracts from the sanctity of the judiciary as the citadel of justice and erode the trust reposed on it by the people,” the PDP mouthpiece had said.
But angered by the weighty allegations made by the opposition party, the CJN said the party and its spokesperson needed to be counseled that they must not tread where they have little or no knowledge about. He added that it is not his wish “to join issues with people exercising their rights to freedom of speech, except the sensitive and sacred nature of the Judiciary in the society.”
The nation’s top judge asserted that the integrity of the judiciary at the moment was non-negotiable, and noted that many members of the APC and the PDP had won and lost at the tribunals all over the country.
He wondered whether this should be interpreted to mean that “the president of the Court of Appeal has influenced the tribunal to also give judgments in favour of the PDP members that have won their cases.
“We all agree that the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides for freedom of expression, but it cannot be exercised in isolation recklessly like loose cannon,” he stated.
Justice Mohammed went on to state categorically that “I make bold to state that the integrity of the Judiciary this time around is non-negotiable.
“Independent judiciary intrinsically means judges can make decisions irrespective of the political winds that are blowing. And we are indeed doing same at the election petition tribunal,” he noted.
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