The National Judicial Council, NJC, has stated that it cannot hand over judges accused of corruption to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for investigation and prosecution.
The NJC said it has no power to dismiss such judges, even as it pointed out that it does not also recover proceeds of corruption.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, who is the chairman of the NJC, stated this in a letter with reference No.CJN/Gen/MISC/A37/Vol.XXI/8 and signed by the Senior Special Assistant, H. S. Sa’eed to the CJN.
The letter dated October 26, 2016, was in response to the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP’s request to Justice Mohammed requesting him as the Chairman of the NJC to “take over from the Department of State Service (DSS) the cases of all the 7 judges released by the DSS and refer the cases of those judges to anticorruption agencies for conclusion of investigation and prompt prosecution.”
Revealing the letter in a statement on Tuesday, SERAP said the NJC explained that its duty stopped at making recommendations to the Executive arm of government after looking into petitions against judges.
The letter reads, “It is necessary to restate that the NJC is a creation of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) being established under Section 153 with its mandate clearly set out in Para 21, Part One of the Third Schedule to the Constitution.
“This provision clearly stipulates at Paragraph 21(b) and (d) that the council may only ‘recommend’ to the President and the governors, the removal from office of judicial officers and to exercise disciplinary control over such judicial officers, which, in effect, is the extent of its power to discipline. Hence, the council cannot, suo moto dismiss any judicial officer.
“The NJC can also neither ‘hand over’ corrupt judges to law enforcement agencies for prosecution nor recover proceeds of corruption, as you have suggested. It can merely recommend to act upon its findings, as it has always done.”
The NJC however said it is committed to purging the judiciary of rot with the support of the citizens by treating all petitions against judges appropriately, adding that to this end, it has enacted the Judicial Discipline Regulations, 2014.
According to Mohammed, “However, in exercise of its constitutional mandate, the NJC has enacted the Judicial Discipline Regulations, 2014 in order to ensure that petitions are received, investigated and addressed as appropriate.
“As SERAP’s own report attests, 64 judicial officers have been disciplined within five years even preceding the institution of the new guidelines. Any failure on the part of the executive arm of government to act upon such recommendations cannot therefore be blamed upon the NJC.
“With due consideration to the contents of your letter, I am directed to acknowledge and address the concerns which SERAP have raised, which may reflect the wider opinion held by some Nigerians.
“While his Lordship, without doubt, appreciates SERAP’s concern for the incidence of corruption in the judiciary, it is indeed erroneous to conclude that the NJC has ‘felt satisfied with applying only civil sanctions and has not deemed it fit to hand over corrupt judges to law enforcement agencies for prosecution nor recover proceeds of corruption’, as insinuated in your letter under reference.
“To be sure, every citizen of Nigeria, inclusive of judicial officers, are entitled to the protection of the law and a key provision of the Constitution is the presumption of innocence, as enshrined in Section 36(5) of the Constitution (as amended).
“I must also remind us that the seven judges, like all other persons, are entitled to a fair hearing as stipulated in Section 36 of the Constitution. As such, it would be presumptive and indeed preemptive to sanction the said judges without exhausting the proper procedure for their removal.”
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