The minister was responding to allegations that the Department of State Security breached the principle of separation of powers by arresting seven judges over the weekend. Mohammed slammed those who he said had tried to muddle issues by saying that the NJC is the only authority that can entertain complaints and discipline erring judges. “When a judge is accused of professional misconduct, it’s quite different from what is happening now. If you suspect anybody including governors who have immunity, they’re still subject to investigations. This government has the highest respect for judiciary and two, we’re not in anyway trying to ridicule the judiciary,” he said. The minister said while the government was “not painting the whole of the judges with the same brush”, it also has a duty to fight corruption “at whatever level, and in doing so, we’ll do so within the ambit of the law.” He said the government was being careful in handling the matter as it believes in separation of powers and has a lot of respect for the judiciary. The minister also stated that the government did not intend to humiliate the judiciary, saying the arrest of the judges was done within the ambit of the law. “What the government is concerned and passionate about is to fight corruption. In the process of fighting corruption, it’s not unusual that you step on some very sensitive toes, but the question to ask is one, do judges have immunity? The answer is no. Can judges be arrested? The answer is yes. Have serving judges been arrested in Nigeria? The answer is yes. Justice Okoli had been arrested and tried. Now, the next question to ask is: what is the proper procedure for arresting anybody including judges? There must be properly executing search warrant. Was such presented? The answer again is yes. “People have tried to muddle the facts about when do you search a person’s house. The truth of the matter is that under the new criminal justice law, you can search anybody, anywhere, anytime. Unfortunately, people have even brought issues that are completely irrelevant to the matter. Some people are saying oh, the reason why they went to some particular judges’ houses was because the president wants somebody from one part of the country to be Chief Justice of the Federation. That is preposterous. “This government has no intention to humiliate the judiciary. And for those talking about separation of power, you’re stretching it too far. Members of the executive can be invited by any arm of the government and we’ll go. So, we should situate this thing in the right perspective. You were all witnesses in 2015 in Ghana where 32 judges were caught on tape by journalists asking for bribe, 22 of them were dismissed in one day in Ghana,” he said.]]>