• CJN protests to Osinbajo, AGF, summons emergency NJC meeting • Heads of courts tell NJC to shut down courts nationwide •May ratify Onnoghen’s recommendation by FCSC Showdown is looming between the judiciary and the Buhari Administration in the aftermath of the weekend arrest of some judges, two of them Supreme Court Justices. The Department of State Security (DSS) accuses the judges of corruption. Arrested are Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro both of the Supreme Court , the suspended Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya , Justice Kabiru Auta of Kano State High Court,and Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court. The residence of Justice Nnamdi Dimgba also of the Federal High Court was ransacked by the DSS operatives. He was said not to be at home during the raid. Similar raids were conducted on the residence of the immediate past Chief Judge of Enugu State A.I Umezulike in Enugu and that of Justice Muazu Pindiga in Gombe. An angry Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Mahmud Mohammed personally took up the matter with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, himself a Senior Advocate (SAN) and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami (SAN) to protest the development. The CJN could not get in touch with President Muhammadu Buhari immediately because he was airborne to Kaduna for an assignment at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA). Heads of courts are understood to have protested to the CJN, asking him to shut down all courts in the country to resist what they termed plan to humiliate judges. The CJN is however not disposed to this line of action because he feels that will amount to playing into the hands of those who are out to intimidate the Judiciary. Sources close to him said the CJN will rather opt for the judiciary to resist humiliation. It was also gathered that the CJN has summoned an emergency meeting of the National Judicial Council (NJC) for tomorrow. Top of the agenda is the ratification of the recommendation of the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) that Justice Walter Onnoghen should be the next CJN from next month when Mohammed is due to retire. After the session, the FJSC will forward its decision to President Muhammadu Buhari for concurrence and transmission to the Senate. Investigation by our reporter showed that the CJN and other heads of courts were shocked that Supreme Court Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro and their families were subjected to humiliation by the Department of State Security Service (DSS) before being whisked away to detention facilities in Abuja. The suspended Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya was picked up in Sokoto, and Justice Kabiru Auta of Kano State High Court was arrested in Kano. While Justice Tsamiya was recommended by the NJC for retirement for meeting a litigant thrice and demanding N200million bribe, Justice Auta received N125million from a litigant through an account approved by him. Justice Auta was awaiting prosecution by the police based on NJC’s recommendation. Justice Dimgba recently condemned what he called the uncivilized conduct of the DSS, in a ruling he gave in the criminal case involving a member of the Presidential Committee on the probe of arms procurement, Air Commodore Umar Mohammed (rtd). Justice Dimgba, who was appointed late last year, granted bail to Mohammed, who was arraigned before him by the Federal Ministry of Justice on charges of money laundering, illegal possession of firearms and breach of Official Secret Act and ordered that he be remanded in prison custody. In disregard of the order by Justice Dimgba, DSS’ operatives apprehended Mohammed and took him in to its custody, a development that infuriated the judge, who vowed not to conduct further proceedings in the case until his order was obeyed by the DSS. It was learnt that DSS operatives arrived at the official residences of the two Supreme Court Justices at about 11pm on Friday. A top source said: “The CJN was upset that the DSS invaded the residences of Supreme Court Justices without any formal complaint against the judges or any notice. “The operatives got to Justice Okoro’s residence at about 11pm and held the family hostage till 4am when they went away with him. They ransacked everywhere and subjected everyone to trauma. “As for Justice Ngwuta, the DSS men did not vacate his residence till 9am on Saturday. In the two instances, they didn’t tell them their offences but they only said they had warrants to search and arrest them. Nobody knows which court issued warrant for the arrest of the Supreme Court Justices. “The CJN was also unhappy over disrespect for NJC in effecting the arrest of some judges. Just a week ago, the NJC approved the suspension of Justice Tsamiya and recommended the Appeal Court judge for retirement by President Buhari. Why can’t the DSS respect the NJC and allow a constitutional process to take its course? “It was already public knowledge that the NJC dismissed Justice Auta of Kano State High Court and recommended him for prosecution by the Nigeria Police. The same police investigated and uncovered how Justice Auta collected N125million bribe from a litigant. The DSS did not play any role in probing the fraud. Yet it went ahead to arrest the judge when a statutory security agency has been mandated to prosecute the judge. “All this tardiness made the CJN to be angry and upset by the conduct of the DSS.” Supreme Court sources said feelers from the Presidency suggested that Buhari was unaware of the DSS operation. Many state Chief Judges are not persuaded by the suggestion, it was gathered yesterday Another source said that the DSS decided to arrest the judges following their alleged refusal to honour invitations earlier sent to them in relation to on-going investigation about their alleged involvement in corruption cases. The DSS was said to have, about six months ago, informed the CJN about information linking the judges to some unethical conduct. The DSS was said to have resorted to yesterday’s operation following what it perceived as delay and inaction on the part of the CJN and the NJC. A source dismissed speculations that the DSS operatives also raided the residence of Justice Walter Onnoghen. Onnoghen who is next in ranking to Justice Mohammed at the Supreme Court has been recommended by the NJC to be the next CJN. The stipends were allegedly paid from the $15billion arms deals cash which was spent by the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. It was also learnt that the NJC has received more than 20 petitions against some judges. A Preliminary Complaint Assessment Committee was said to be sieving the petitions with a view to establishing whether or not there is prima facie evidence against them. According to the rules, the Chairman of NJC may “ assess a complaint or, may at his discretion, refer it to a Preliminary Complaint Assessment Committee where such has been established. “The Preliminary Complaint Assessment Committee shall review the complaint referred to it and advise the Council whether the complaint should be: i. dismissed; ii. terminated and not proceeded with because an intervening event has taken the complaint; iii. terminated because remedial action has been taken that makes action on the complaint no longer necessary; iv . referred to the subject Judicial Officer for his response; v . referred to an investigation committee should his response not be sufficient to dispose of the matter without an investigation.” But instead of submitting its evidence to the NJC against some judges, the DSS effected their arrest and detained them.]]>