Re On the Matter of the Stunning Arrest of Many Very Senior Judges in Nigeria {Re: Arrest of Roguish Judges is constitutional
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Leye Ige
Oct 10, 2016, 1:27:59 PM10/10/16
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“Please, Alagba, don't insult our intelligence. People like Afis support Tinubu with the hope that he can hold the fort and keep consolidating his Western States, and by now take over Ondo and move to take over Ekiti which he lost while snoozing. He nearly lost Lagos out of Bad Belle, fighting Fashola. What's wrong with Tinubu paapaa sef? Alagba Leye, there's a reason we turn a blind eye, if the reasons are now one step removed, Afis asked "what good is supporting Tinubu then?"Afi Tinubu joye awodi oo le gba'die! Tinubu is very disappointing at this hour. If Buhari outmaneuvered him in his own House, then what's he good for?”--Afis
Afis,
You are the one insulting your own intelligence, if there is any expression like that. Did you READ what you wrote? So, you “ support Tinubu with the hope that he can hold the forte and keep consolidating his Western States and by now take over Ondo and move over to Ekiti which he lost while snoozing”????????????? Do we need a John Padden to write that episode for us?
But IF Tinubu didn’t snooze in Osun, HOW come he snoozed in Ekiti? Both elections occurred at about the same time!!! What role(s) did the APC candidates play in both instances such that you will now place the blame on Tinubu? In Ekiti, Tinubu’s previously excellent relationship with Bamidele was “severed” for Fayemi’s sake!!! So exactly how did he snooze? Or are you now saying that he should not have supported Fayemi?
And now in Ondo, he submitted himself to the laid down regulations—was he snoozing when Abuja, in cahoots with the same Fayemi now decreed that 5 is greater than 6—and this was AFTER it had been shown BEYOND DOUBT that the primary was FAULTY and a rerun expected????This is what you call being “outmaneuvered”???? And what exactly do you expect him to do when such a decree is being made except to “cry” out as he had done? Do you expect him to invade Abuja in order to show he’s not snoozing??? See how you insult your own intelligence???
So you turned a blind eye---I DID NOT TURN ANY BLIND EYE TO ANYTHING FOR THERE WAS NO REASON TO--- so why is it that whatever it is you turned your blind eyes from are NOT being addressed on their own merits? Why MUST the political flank be neutralized BEFORE such a step is taken and then such neutralization being based on absolute fraud????
So, Tinubu is NOT the one that “is disappointing at this hour” but those who REFUSE to see the Ondo stuff for the shenanigan that it was/is and call it “outmaneuvering”. Na Wah!!! The same way(s) the AG was “outmaneuvered” in 1965 and Omoboriowo’s “outmaneuvering” in 1983.
Leye Ige
--------------------------------------------
On Mon, 10/10/16, afis 'Deinde <odide...@gmail.com> wrote:
Subject: Re: [africanworldforum] Re: On the Matter of the Stunning Arrest of Many Very Senior Judges in Nigeria {Re: Arrest of Roguish Judges is constitutional
To: africanw...@googlegroups.com
Cc: "naijaintellects" <naijain...@googlegroups.com>, "USAAfrica Dialogue" <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>, "Nigeria world forum" <NIgerianW...@yahoogroups.com>, "naijapolitics@yahoogroups com" <naijap...@yahoogroups.com>, "nidoa nidoa" <niger...@yahoogroups.com>, "Raay...@yahoogroups.com" <raay...@yahoogroups.com>, "yahoogroups" <TalkN...@yahoogroups.com>, "ekiti ekitigroups" <ekiti...@yahoogroups.com>, "NiDAN" <nidan...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Monday, October 10, 2016, 7:02 AM
I
don't get involve in internal affairs of
APC. I am
not a member of APC. At this point, arresting and
"capturing" Soldiers of Corruption" is a task
that must be done, except if Buhari ta felefele to arrest
our "no go Leaders". I don't mince my
words, No one should bother our Ebora Owu, the Castrator of
Igbos. No on should touch Asiwaju Tinubu, that's the
mistake the foolish man from Otuoke made.Arrest all Igbo
leaders, Idoma leaders but not Yoruba that I named.
That's the only level we will fight for Tinubu. The
rest inside APC na him palava. If he didn't like it, let
him pull his faction out. I am not a politician, he as a
politician should know that Fulani are not trustworthy.
Fulani are snakes and they are overly ambitious. Fulani
wants to Islamize Nigeria. He knows so he must have an exit
plan.We have
him the proverbial Carte Blanche pussy, now Tinubu is asking
us why the pussy lacks hairs?
If Tinubu's faction
is snoozing and let Buhari or Atiku steal his base then he
doesn't deserve the leadership we bestowed on
him.People
like Afis have given him lots of passes including
allegations of his looting Lagos state, allegations that he
is strong-arming other Yoruba states getting percentages in
monthly dues from those governors at the expense of "We
the people". People like Afis have
been insulted due to their support for Tinubu, even when we
heard Tinubu is loading his family into government,
including his son-on-law et all. We have not queried his
sanity for making people like Fuad Oki a lifetime
"commissioner without portfolio", a Fuad Oki who
never went to any university in the US, we gave Tinubu a
free pass, chalking all these excesses under
"that's Naija politics"
rationalization.I am NOT canvassing for
money ooo, I don't need it and if offered I will donate
to my Ogun Ajobo crowd. So, don't misunderstand my
vexation. Tinubu should fight his battles and go all out to
win, since Yoruba have given him enough financial resources
to fight those battles. No whining, nothing!
Please, Alagba,
don't insult our intelligence. People like Afis support
Tinubu with the hope that he can hold the fort and keep
consolidating his Western States, and by now take over Ondo
and move to take over Ekiti which he lost while snoozing. He
nearly lost Lagos out of Bad Belle, fighting Fashola.
What's wrong with Tinubu paapaa sef?
Alagba Leye,
there's a reason we turn a blind eye, if the reasons are
now one step removed, Afis asked "what good is
supporting Tinubu then?"Afi Tinubu joye
awodi oo le gba'die!Tinubu is very
disappointing at this hour.If Buhari outmaneuvered
him in his own House, then what's he good for?
All opinion remains
mine, and no one else.Have a happy
Sunday!Shikena Afis
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 10,
2016, at 12:30 AM, 'Leye Ige' via AfricanWorldForum
<africanw...@googlegroups.com>
wrote:
Afis/Prof,
From the timing of this
"strike" against the judges, do you suppose it is
part of a political pincer movement by Buhari, to wit: use
it to garner support from especially the SW whom he knows
would go for any attempt at curbing corruption while
simultaneously trying to neutralize the SW political
leadership, itself through corrupt means a la 5 > 6 as
well as deliberately lying about how the VP came to be
chosen? Abi, which of the elections in Nigeria since his
coming to power experienced a 5>6 scenario and its
accompaniments, except Kogi and Ondo States? The
"worst" that had happened were
"inconclusive" elections. So, why don't we
simply wait and let the whole shebang play itself
out???
Leye Ige
--------------------------------------------
On Sun, 10/9/16, 'Afis Deinde'
via AfricanWorldForum <africanw...@googlegroups.com>
wrote:
Subject: Re: [africanworldforum] Re:
[Naijaintellects] On the Matter of the Stunning Arrest of
Many Very Senior Judges in Nigeria {Re: Arrest of Roguish
Judges is constitutional
To:
africanw...@googlegroups.com
Cc: "naijaintellects" <naijain...@googlegroups.com>,
"USAAfrica Dialogue" <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>,
"Nigeria world forum" <NIgerianW...@yahoogroups.com>,
"naijapolitics@yahoogroups com" <naijap...@yahoogroups.com>,
"nidoa nidoa" <niger...@yahoogroups.com>,
"Raay...@yahoogroups.com"
<raay...@yahoogroups.com>,
"yahoogroups" <TalkN...@yahoogroups.com>,
"ekiti ekitigroups" <ekiti...@yahoogroups.com>,
"NiDAN" <nidan...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Sunday, October 9, 2016, 11:52
PM
Excellent
points!By
the way, Clinton won
tonight.
"Bigly"
excellent!!
Afis“Just as
a
solid rock is not shaken by
the storm, even so the wise are
not affected by praise or blame.” —
Dhamapada, verse
81.
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 9,
2016, at 11:41 PM, Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Akusobi:
Absolutely....!
The PMB administration is
finding
BELATEDLY that the
anti-corruption fight can NEVER BE WON if
the CORRUPT Judges and Lawyers that
DOMINATE the Nigerian
landscape are still in place....AND if the Banks can
still
hide and move their
monies around for them. That is why,
as far back as 2004, I have listed as
one of 17 ways of
fighting
corruption in our country, we should:
QUOTE
http://www.nigerialinks.com/Articles/mobolaji_aluko/2004/12/17-ways-of-stopping-financial.html
For
unelected public
officials, we should:
1.
speedily prosecute all
persons not protected by Section 308
who aids and abets those immunized
officials in financial
and
other types of corruption;
2.
focus on ridding the Police
Force and Judicial Bench of
corruption; these two arms are the most public faces
of
exercising justice in the
land. We should observe
zero-tolerance for bribery by the NPF on our
highways,
including use of
sting operations;
3.
observe
zero-tolerance for bribery by judges, mandatorily
disbarring any found to have taken
bribes.
For
private sector officials,
we should:
1.
focus
on ridding the banks and other financial houses of
corrupt practices;
2.
observe zero-tolerance for
money-laundering: sanctions could
for example DOUBLE the amounts
laundered, including closing
banks down for egregious violations;
3.
observe zero-tolerance for
foreign-exchange round-tripping;
fines should double the amount
round-tripped.
For
elected public officials,
we should:
1.
focus
on the executives at the National, State and Local
Government levels;
2.
enable public access to
their declared assets, sanctioning
any officials that don’t declare their
assets and/or
truthfully;
3.
require
independent, professional and regular audits of
all
LG, state and federal
accounts, and make available to the
public;
4.
abrogate or seriously amend
Section 308 immunity clause that
benefit the President, the
Vice-President, the 36 governors
and 36 deputy-governors. If amended,
Section 308 should
allow
the
(i)
the
Police, the ICPC and the EFCC to pursue CRIMINAL
charges
the executive
officials;
(ii)
the
Senate to investigate civil charges against the
President, after a grand jury of three
Appeals Court judges
has
determined that there is a prima facie case against
them
that is urgent;
and
(iii)
State Houses of Assembly to investigate civil
charges
against the governors
and their deputies; after a grand jury
of three High Court judges has
determined that there is a
prima facie case against them that is urgent;
UNQUOTE
What,
for
example, is happening with the Rickey Tarfa case?
How
can a judge be found
guilty of judicial misdeed (induced
from bribery) - and then just
transferred to Maiduguri by
the NJC
QUOTE
http://ynaija.com/justice-rita-ofili-ajumogobia-watch-list/
Judge
punished heavily,
placed on
watch list over judicial misconduct
Mazi Emeka March 2,
2016
The
National Judicial Council
(NJC), on Wednesday, announced
that a Federal High Court Judge, Justice Rita
Ofili-Ajumogobia, serving in the Lagos
Division of the
court, has
been been banned from any form of promotion till
the end of her career.
This was contained in a
statement signed by the NJC Acting
Director, Soji
Oye.
Oye
stated
that Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia has been placed under
a
four year watch-list and
also warned against committing any
misconduct.
He
said the disciplinary
action was taken after the NJC, headed
by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice
Mahmud Mohammed,
considered
several petitions filed against her.
The decision was sequel to
the petition written against her by one
Victoria Ayeni
alleging
misconduct and injustice on the part of Hon.
Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia for failing to
deliver judgment in
Suit No.
FHC/AB/CS/31/2011, a pre-election matter between
Victoria A. A. Ayeni and Olusola
Sonuga.
The statement reads
in
part:
“She was also alleged to
have adjourned the pre-Election matter
severally until the
termination of the life span of the Ogun State House
of
Assembly.”
“The National Judicial
Council, Under the Chairmanship of Hon.
Justice Mahmud
Mohammed, GCON,
at its Meeting which was held on the 24th
and 25th February, 2016 decided to warn
Hon. Justice Ruth
Ofili-Ajumogobia and also put her on the ‘watch-list’
of
the Council for the next
four years.”
“The
honourable judge
will also not
be considered for any elevation to the Court
of Appeal or any ad-hoc judicial
appointment till her
retirement from the bench.”
Justice Ruth
Ofili-Ajumogobia
was, in 2013, accused of physically abusing
a male staff and using him for domestic
errands.
UNQUOTE
The NJC,
until recently,
has not shown
itself to be strong enough to discipline
judges...and CRIMINAL PROSECUTION -
and not administrative
oversight - should be the name of the game. If a
Judge
slaps a staff, yes that
could be administrative oversight.
But if it has to do with the VERY
FUNCTION of judgeship,
then
criminal prosecution should be done.
And there you have
it.
Bolaji Aluko
On Mon, Oct 10, 2016 at
4:20 AM, Daniel Akusobi <daku...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Aluko,Supported!The
fight
against corruption should have started from the
judges
at all
levels.D
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 9, 2016, at 11:14 PM, Mobolaji
Aluko
<alu...@gmail.com>
wrote:
My
People:
This broom sweep of
Judges in
Nigeria is long
overdue....
I support this
sting, support
Falana's
statement that they should be charged QUICKLY,
and deplore NBA's position on it in
agreement with Paul
Adujie.
Bolaji
Aluko
OPERATION
BROOM Against Five
Current and
Former Judges of Dade County in Miami, Florida
of June 1991
QUOTE
"An uneasy calm
followed the
initial shock in
Miami's legal community in the wake of
the June 8 raids on the homes and
offices of five
present and
former Dade County, Fla. judges. The raids,
which came as "a complete
surprise" netted
thousands of dollars in marked $100 dollar bills
allegedly
paid in bribes,
according to authorities......
In an odd twist, documents disclosed
in connection with the Miami
investigation identified
Raymond J. Takiff .....as a key figure.in the
undercover
operation.
Takiff...began cooperating with prosecutors
after signing a plea agreement for
unspecified crimes in
November
1989, the document revealed..."
UNQUOTE
<image.png>
<image.png>I
Falana
Asks Attorney-General To
Immediately Charge Arrested Judges To
Court Published Oct 09, 2016
Greenbarge Reporters
Human
rights lawyer, Mr. Femi
Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria
(SAN), has advised the Attorney-General
of the Federation
and Minister
of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to ensure that the
judges who have been arrested by the
security agents for
alleged
corruption are immediately arraigned in court
without delay. He added that because the
detained judges
“are
presumed innocent until the contrary is proved by
the
State, they should be
admitted to bail in self
recognizance.”
The
Senior Advocate, who reacted to the
furor over the arrest of
the
judges by the Department of State Security (DSS) both
in
Abuja and Port Harcourt,
the Rivers State Capital, accused
the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) of
shielding corrupt
judges
despite having information about their
activities.
He
described the failure of NBA to deal with corrupt
officials
in the judiciary as
an embarrassment to the “incorruptible
members of the bar,” adding that it is
responsible for the
current
state of the country’s judiciary.
“In particular, the Nigerian
Bar
Association which has
information on all corrupt judges and
lawyers in the country has continued to
shield them to the
embarrassment of incorruptible members of the bar and
the
bench.
“The few
lawyers who have plucked up the courage to expose
corrupt
judges and lawyers
have been stigmatised and treated like
lepers by their colleagues.
“It is on record that when
both
the Independent Corrupt
Practices and other Offences
Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission
sent invitation
letters to judges suspected of corruption
they had rushed to the Federal High
Court to obtain
interlocutory
injunctions to prevent their arrest,
investigation and
prosecution.”
He said that
members of the legal
profession should have themselves to blame for the
harassment of judges by security forces
as they had failed
to take
advantage of the relevant statutory disciplinary
bodies to purge the bar and the bench of
corrupt
elements. “It is on
account of
negligence on the
part of the legal profession that the SSS
which screens candidates before they are
recommended by the
National
Judicial Council for appointment as judges has now
engaged in the arrest of judges for
alleged corruption and
abuse
of office.“It is a matter of
grave concern that the legal profession has allowed
the
denigration of the
hallowed temple of justice because of the
misconduct of a few corrupt
judges.
“For several years,
judges who
committed grave
criminal offences were not prosecuted but
merely retired by the authorities on the
recommendation of
the National
Judicial Council.
“Although
the National Judicial
Council
recently recommended the dismissal and prosecution
of a judge for extorting the sum of
N197m from a litigant
the
authorities had paid lip service to the menace of
judicial corruption in the
country.”
It would be
recalled that the
operatives
of the DSS had raided the official quarters of
judges at Abuja, Gombe, Kano and Port
Harcourt and ended up
arresting at least four judicial officers. The
arrested
judicial officers
comprised two Justices of the Supreme
Court – Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and
John Okoro – as
well as
Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court
and another judge of the Gombe State
High Court, Justice
Mu’azu
Pindiga.
In a
statement issued at the end of the raid,
the DSS alleged
that the
suspects had engaged in judicial misconduct and
corrupt practices, adding that a huge
amount of money was
recovered
from three of the judges.
In
response to the raid, the NBA had
declared a state of emergency and
demanded the immediate and
unconditional release of the judges.
Source: PUNCH.
-------
NBA Goofed
On Arrest of
Judges
Written by Paul
I. Adujie Esq.
I watched
with utter dismay, as
the
President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)
surrounded by other prominent lawyers
badmouthed the actions
of the
DSS which culminated in the arrest of some judges
on
Saturday, October 8,
2016
As the world has become
aware,
some judges in Nigeria
were arrested on the allegation of
fraud, and the arrests were conducted in
a nationwide raid
or sting,
orchestrated by the DSS, armed with adequate
prosecutable information with equally
adequate and
sufficient
Probable Cause!
A majority of
Nigerians are elated
and
ecstatic to learn of these arrests, particularly
so,
given the sacred position,
the exalted and hallowed position
judges hold in upholding Justice, Due
Process and The Rule
of
Law
Nigeria has for far too
long
witnessed the profound
absence of justice, and the equally
profound absence of the Due Process and
the Rule of Law,
which has led
to impunity and lawlessness at all
levels.Nigeria has witnessed
and
continues to witness
regression in all facets of life, as no
one plays by the rules or follows laid
down processes and
pay
complete obeisance to the rule of law.
I have often said privately
and
publicly, that efforts to
fight corruption by current
federal government or any future government must begin
with
the judiciary and the
police and or other law enforcement
agencies.
When judges and policing agencies
cannot be bribed, a majority of those
Nigerians who have
made
impunity and lawlessness their vocation and
profession;
would soon fall in
line.
It is the case that in
Nigeria,
there are great and
good laws and rules regarding human
conditions. However, most laws are not
enforced, implemented
or
obeyed. Laws and rules in Nigeria are observed in
their
breaches!
The
simplest of processes in Nigeria have become warped,
twisted
and perverted, and as
a consequence, simple processes are
made to become unnecessarily complex and
complicated. Simple
actions
are made to take too long and extremely expensive,
stressful and or frustratingly
cumbersome!
The judges
arrested on Saturday
October
8, 2016 are said to have made useful statements to
law enforcement agencies and the
policing authorities.
Documents were said to have been recovered from
the
allegedly erring judges
who were arrested.
It is the
case that large sums of
monies
were said to have been recovered from each of the
arrested judges - hundreds of millions
of Naira, US Dollars,
British
pounds and Euros were recovered from the arrested
judges. Let the arrested judges defend
themselves. Let them
reconcile
their salaries with their sudden wealth or stash
of cash or loads of loots and avarice!
And yes, I do believe
in and
subscribe the Presumption of Innocence!
Law enforcement agencies will
soon
reveal the contents of
statements made by these culprit
judges. Most probably, these said judges
have filed
statements of their
assets prior to their arrest, and
secondly, the said judges would explain
why they have these
extraordinarily large amounts in their homes as opposed
to
lodgements with their
various banks.
It does appear
that these arrested
judges,
were scared to deposit the monies which they
received from their sale of matches,
toothpicks and sachets
of
water, as the Bank Verification Number rule or
regime,
has made it a little
more difficult to bank almost
anonymously and through proxies as a certain lady
was
recently accused of
banking by proxies, while retaining all
the benefits and ATM cards, even though
the accounts in
question bore
the names and images of other persons!
It is quite astonishing,
astounding and even outlandish, that the
NBA executive would
defend the
obviously indefensible judges! The NBA President
was heard and seen condemning the
arrests of these judges,
and
referring to the process as Gestapo style, despite
the
fact that the DSS
operations was preceded by petitions of
allegations of these judges accepting
bribes and perverting
justice!The DSS have Probable Cause(s) to
conduct the arrests, and the DSS may
have reasons to believe
that
the targeted judges would flee or hide or destroy
the
evidences of their alleged
crimes.
The NBA President
seems to
misunderstand or he
has wilfully misinterpreted Due Process
and Rule of Law with his suggestion that
the arrest of the
judges
should not have taken place because (a) DSS is not
the Nigeria Police and (b) DSS or even
the police may not
arrest the
judges at all, particularly at the particular
hours of the morning!
It
is my
opinion that the DSS acted within the scope of
their
statutory assignment and
that the DSS acted properly in
conducting the arrest at the particular hours, to
prevent
flight, or escape by
the arrested judges and as well as the
DSS desire to ensure that proceeds of
crimes are not
destroyed or
taken out of jurisdiction, including other
tactical and strategic reasons which may
have informed and
prompted the
DSS to act in the manner and the time their
operatives acted.
I
strongly
believe that the DSS have adequate and sufficient
information, and now, evidence to
prosecute, hence these
audacious arrests and bribe loot recoveries as have
been
announced by the DSS. The
DSS certainly know more than what
the public currently knows, they may
have had exigent
circumstances
as to likelihood of flight or disappearance of
the judges arrested, and the targeted
corruption
proceeds!
It
is
really disappointing to regularly and too often
see
Nigerian lawyers, and
worse the NBA executives become tools
with which the corrupt political class
shield themselves….
Judges
and members of the political class openly,
conspicuously, ostentatiously and
brazenly corrupt and break
any
and every law with impunity, while setting slush
funds
aside to hire 10 Senior
Advocates of Nigeria to defend the
indefensible!
The
Nigerian nation and her citizens are not living to
their
full potentials as a
result of corruption of every process.
Elections are predictably rigged, judges
are predictably for
the
highest bidders, budgets are routinely passed but
monies
so appropriated are
predictably stolen or plundered, and
then law enforcement agencies engage in
some sort of
“Catch-and
Release” and the cycle perpetrates and
perpetuates!
Budgets for roads, bridges and
public infrastructures never get spent
on roads and bridges
or other
public infrastructures hence they are decayed and
decrepit nationwide. There are
front-loading and unwarranted
upward appraisals of contract prices. Monies budgeted
for
equipment and medicines
never get to the target hospitals.
Hence, Nigerian hospitals are bereft of
modern state of the
art
medical diagnostic and treatment tools and or
medicines.
Medical doctors are
frequently on strike nationally, and
this is why your cousin will not find a
doctor or medicine
in his
neighbourhood hospital tomorrow.
The generator in your home is
running right now, as there is no
municipal electricity,
because
the budget for electricity generation and
transmission has evaporated through
corruption, and
nationally,
Nigerians can count more generators than
citizens!
Stupidity should have consequences
and law breaking should receive
sanction(s) but, currently
in
Nigeria, there is a dearth or even the complete
absence
of integrity. A
corrupt judge is worse than an armed robber
because a corrupt judge perverts
justice, law and processes.
Such judges, where there are allegations and probable
cause,
should be arrested and
punished. Corrupt judge are odious
and inimical to the very essence of
justice, corrupt judges
should
be exposed and subject to public opprobrium.
When and if a law enforcement
agency discovers that a crime has been
committed, is being
committed
or likely to be committed, it’s incumbent on
upon such a law enforcer to arrest the
offender without
dithering.
Prompt and legal arrest is an imperative! We do
not ask armed robbers in Nigeria for
permission to arrest
them. So,
why should we ask judges for permission to arrest
them, when and if there is a probable
cause, predicate and
foundation for their arrest?
Corrupt judges thwart the very
fundamental social order, the rule of law and due process
to
which they are supposed to
pay complete obeisance. As we all
must realize, the absence of law and
order permits
lawlessness!
https://adujie.wordpress.com/2
016/10/08/nba-goofed-on-arrest
-of-judges/
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________ ___________________
On Sun, Oct 9, 2016 at 2:44
PM, okoi_advocate via AfricanWorldForum
<africanworldforum@
googlegroups.com>
wrote:
The
argument by some that the sting
operations carried by the
DSS
on homes of senior Judges of the High Court and
the
Supreme Court last Friday
which led to recovery of vast sums
of money in various current
denominations is an infraction
on the independence and sanctity of the judicial branch
of
government is hogwash.
There
is no
infringement on the independence and
sanctity of the
judiciary in
any manner whatsoever . Judges do not have
immunity to do what they like . When a
judge collects bribe
to
pervert the course of Justice is that not in itself
an
infraction of the
independence of the judiciary and a threat
to the sanctity of the judiciary ? When
a judge commits a
crime is
both a professional misconduct and a crime . In
such a circumstances it is not more the
business of the
National
Judicial Council (NJC) to deal with it but also a
matter for security agencies to handle
.The DSS does not
need more
explanation more than what it had done . NJC has
regrettably been protecting and covering
senior judges! We I
want to
say that evidence abound of the protection and
covering of senior Judges by the NJC
and perhaps this might
one
of the reasons why government resorted to such
measures
, which in any case
is within the bounds of the law .
Justice Tsamiya collected two hundred
million as bribe but
NJC
inexplicably only recommended his retirement . But
another Judge in Kano who collected a
bribe of N190 million
was
ordered to be arrested by the Police by NJC. We
heard
mind bogging stories in
his judges collect humongous sums of
money especially in political and
election related cases to
pervert the cause of Justice . It is perverse logic
and
reasoning for any body to
contend that independence of the
judicial branch of government means that
the executive
branch of
government should close it eyes to the infractions
of the law and Constitution by Judges .
Even in the United
States of
America, the supposed bastion and sanctuary of
constitutional and liberal democracy the
FBI ( equivalent of
DSS)
sometimes carry sting operations to arrest roguish
judges! On 5th October 2015 the CBS/Ap
reported the arrest
of a
federal Judge, Judge T. Camp by the FBI in a sting
operation for gun running and illegal
drugs involvement
with an
stipper. In Philadelphia nine Judges were arrested
on charges of corruption on the 13th
January 2013! The
judges face
charges of conspiracy to commit wire and mail
fraud, wire fraud,mail
fraud,perjury,making false statements
to the FBI, and aiding and abetting. In
Puerto Rico, on the
30th May
2014, FBI agents arrested a Puerto Rico Superior
Court Judge , Manuel Acevedo Hernandez
suspected of
accepting bribes
in exchange for acquitting a man charged in
a fatal drunk-driving case. On the 4th
November 2015, a
North
Carolina Superior Court Judge, Judge Arnold Jones
11
was arrested in a sting
operation by FBI and charged with
trying to bribe an FBI officer to
collect text messages
between
two phone numbers. However, in Nigeria a country
blighted by many years of impunity no
judge has ever been
arrested!
Even judges that have been accused of corruption
and collection of bribes are usually
treated with kid gloves
and
merely retired or dismissed! This is the first
time
Judges would be arrested
by Law Enforcement agency in the
history of the country; so the
impression among members of
the public is that Judges are above the Law. But nothing
can
be farther from the truth!
Judged are ordinary citizens and
surely not above the law! Change has
surely come to Nigeria!
Okoi
Obono-Obla
Sent from my BlackBerry 10 sma
rtphone.
--
Update:
DSS Says Recovered
Millions In
Naira, Forex From Alleged Corrupt Judges In
Multiple RaidsOctober 8, 2016
BEVERLY HILLS, October
08, (THEWILL) – The Department of
State Services, DSS, has
given
reasons behind its raid on the homes of some judges
in
the country, disclosing
that the special sting operations it
carried out were based on allegations of
corruptions and
other acts of
professional misconduct by a few of the
suspected Judges.
It
disclosed that in one of the States where the
Service
carried out its
operations, credible intelligence revealed
that the Judge had Two Million United
States Dollars
($2,000,000
USD) stashed in his house, adding that the said
Judge in concert with the State
Governor, mobilized thugs
against the Service when he was approached for due search
to
be conducted.
The DSS
made this known in a statement issued on its behalf
on
Saturday by Abdullahi
Garba, where it was said that the
Service had in line with its core
mandate, been monitoring
the
expensive and luxurious lifestyle of some of the
Judges
as well as complaints
from the concerned members of the
public over judgment obtained
fraudulently and on the basis
amounts of money paid.
According to the statement, “The
judges involved were invited, upon which
due diligence was
exhibited
and their premises searched. The searches have
uncovered huge raw cash of various
denominations, local and
foreign currencies, with real estate worth several
millions
of Naira and
documents affirming unholy acts by these
Judges. Meanwhile, some of them have
made useful statements
while a
few have declined even with the glaring evidences
that were found against them in terms of
material cash,
documents and
property recovered pointing to their
compromise.
“In one
of the States where the Service operations were
conducted,
credible
intelligence revealed that the Judge had Two
Million United States Dollars
($2,000,000 USD) stashed in
his house. When he was approached for due search to
be
conducted, he in concert
with the State Governor, mobilized
thugs against the Service team. The team
restrained itself
in the face
of unbridled provocative activities by those
brought in by the Governor.
Unfortunately, the Judge and
Governor also engaged the tacit support of a sister
security
agency.
“The Service
surveillance team noticed that upon
frustrating the
operation, the
Judge with the active support of the Governor
craftily moved the money to an unknown
location which the
Service is
currently making effort to unravel.
“Meanwhile, large amount
including
foreign/local
currencies have been recovered. Summaries of
these include:
SUMMARY
OF
RECOVERED MONEY
1.
NAIRA –
N93,558,000.00
2.
DOLLARS – $530,087
3. POUNDS –
£25,970
4.
EURO –
€5,680
“Other foreign
currencies were
also
recovered. This were recovered from just three (3)
of
the judges.
“These
in addition to other banking documents, including
real
estate documents have
been recovered. Meanwhile preparations
are ongoing to arraign them in a
competent court of
jurisdiction in line with the laws of the
nation.”
The Service
however clarified
that it has never invited Justice Walter
Nkanu Onnoghen of the Supreme Court for
investigation,
asserting that
the Justice is not being investigated by the
secret police.
DSS
said
it “would like to put it on record, that it has
tremendous respect for the Judiciary and
would not do
anything to
undermine it or its activities. The Service will
also join hands with this noble
institution in its fight to
rid it of few corrupt Judges whose actions is
undermining
not only the
Judiciary but the common bond of our national
life.”
Garba however
stated that the
current operation will be sustained and
followed till sanity and sanctity is
restored to the
esteemed third
arm of government and public confidence is
regained.
-----------
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Afis,
You are the one insulting your own intelligence, if there is any expression like that. Did you READ what you wrote? So, you “ support Tinubu with the hope that he can hold the forte and keep consolidating his Western States and by now take over Ondo and move over to Ekiti which he lost while snoozing”????????????? Do we need a John Padden to write that episode for us?
But IF Tinubu didn’t snooze in Osun, HOW come he snoozed in Ekiti? Both elections occurred at about the same time!!! What role(s) did the APC candidates play in both instances such that you will now place the blame on Tinubu? In Ekiti, Tinubu’s previously excellent relationship with Bamidele was “severed” for Fayemi’s sake!!! So exactly how did he snooze? Or are you now saying that he should not have supported Fayemi?
And now in Ondo, he submitted himself to the laid down regulations—was he snoozing when Abuja, in cahoots with the same Fayemi now decreed that 5 is greater than 6—and this was AFTER it had been shown BEYOND DOUBT that the primary was FAULTY and a rerun expected????This is what you call being “outmaneuvered”???? And what exactly do you expect him to do when such a decree is being made except to “cry” out as he had done? Do you expect him to invade Abuja in order to show he’s not snoozing??? See how you insult your own intelligence???
So you turned a blind eye---I DID NOT TURN ANY BLIND EYE TO ANYTHING FOR THERE WAS NO REASON TO--- so why is it that whatever it is you turned your blind eyes from are NOT being addressed on their own merits? Why MUST the political flank be neutralized BEFORE such a step is taken and then such neutralization being based on absolute fraud????
So, Tinubu is NOT the one that “is disappointing at this hour” but those who REFUSE to see the Ondo stuff for the shenanigan that it was/is and call it “outmaneuvering”. Na Wah!!! The same way(s) the AG was “outmaneuvered” in 1965 and Omoboriowo’s “outmaneuvering” in 1983.
Leye Ige
--------------------------------------------
On Mon, 10/10/16, afis 'Deinde <odide...@gmail.com> wrote:
Subject: Re: [africanworldforum] Re: On the Matter of the Stunning Arrest of Many Very Senior Judges in Nigeria {Re: Arrest of Roguish Judges is constitutional
To: africanw...@googlegroups.com
Cc: "naijaintellects" <naijain...@googlegroups.com>, "USAAfrica Dialogue" <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>, "Nigeria world forum" <NIgerianW...@yahoogroups.com>, "naijapolitics@yahoogroups com" <naijap...@yahoogroups.com>, "nidoa nidoa" <niger...@yahoogroups.com>, "Raay...@yahoogroups.com" <raay...@yahoogroups.com>, "yahoogroups" <TalkN...@yahoogroups.com>, "ekiti ekitigroups" <ekiti...@yahoogroups.com>, "NiDAN" <nidan...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Monday, October 10, 2016, 7:02 AM
I
don't get involve in internal affairs of
APC. I am
not a member of APC. At this point, arresting and
"capturing" Soldiers of Corruption" is a task
that must be done, except if Buhari ta felefele to arrest
our "no go Leaders". I don't mince my
words, No one should bother our Ebora Owu, the Castrator of
Igbos. No on should touch Asiwaju Tinubu, that's the
mistake the foolish man from Otuoke made.Arrest all Igbo
leaders, Idoma leaders but not Yoruba that I named.
That's the only level we will fight for Tinubu. The
rest inside APC na him palava. If he didn't like it, let
him pull his faction out. I am not a politician, he as a
politician should know that Fulani are not trustworthy.
Fulani are snakes and they are overly ambitious. Fulani
wants to Islamize Nigeria. He knows so he must have an exit
plan.We have
him the proverbial Carte Blanche pussy, now Tinubu is asking
us why the pussy lacks hairs?
If Tinubu's faction
is snoozing and let Buhari or Atiku steal his base then he
doesn't deserve the leadership we bestowed on
him.People
like Afis have given him lots of passes including
allegations of his looting Lagos state, allegations that he
is strong-arming other Yoruba states getting percentages in
monthly dues from those governors at the expense of "We
the people". People like Afis have
been insulted due to their support for Tinubu, even when we
heard Tinubu is loading his family into government,
including his son-on-law et all. We have not queried his
sanity for making people like Fuad Oki a lifetime
"commissioner without portfolio", a Fuad Oki who
never went to any university in the US, we gave Tinubu a
free pass, chalking all these excesses under
"that's Naija politics"
rationalization.I am NOT canvassing for
money ooo, I don't need it and if offered I will donate
to my Ogun Ajobo crowd. So, don't misunderstand my
vexation. Tinubu should fight his battles and go all out to
win, since Yoruba have given him enough financial resources
to fight those battles. No whining, nothing!
Please, Alagba,
don't insult our intelligence. People like Afis support
Tinubu with the hope that he can hold the fort and keep
consolidating his Western States, and by now take over Ondo
and move to take over Ekiti which he lost while snoozing. He
nearly lost Lagos out of Bad Belle, fighting Fashola.
What's wrong with Tinubu paapaa sef?
Alagba Leye,
there's a reason we turn a blind eye, if the reasons are
now one step removed, Afis asked "what good is
supporting Tinubu then?"Afi Tinubu joye
awodi oo le gba'die!Tinubu is very
disappointing at this hour.If Buhari outmaneuvered
him in his own House, then what's he good for?
All opinion remains
mine, and no one else.Have a happy
Sunday!Shikena Afis
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 10,
2016, at 12:30 AM, 'Leye Ige' via AfricanWorldForum
<africanw...@googlegroups.com>
wrote:
Afis/Prof,
From the timing of this
"strike" against the judges, do you suppose it is
part of a political pincer movement by Buhari, to wit: use
it to garner support from especially the SW whom he knows
would go for any attempt at curbing corruption while
simultaneously trying to neutralize the SW political
leadership, itself through corrupt means a la 5 > 6 as
well as deliberately lying about how the VP came to be
chosen? Abi, which of the elections in Nigeria since his
coming to power experienced a 5>6 scenario and its
accompaniments, except Kogi and Ondo States? The
"worst" that had happened were
"inconclusive" elections. So, why don't we
simply wait and let the whole shebang play itself
out???
Leye Ige
--------------------------------------------
On Sun, 10/9/16, 'Afis Deinde'
via AfricanWorldForum <africanw...@googlegroups.com>
wrote:
Subject: Re: [africanworldforum] Re:
[Naijaintellects] On the Matter of the Stunning Arrest of
Many Very Senior Judges in Nigeria {Re: Arrest of Roguish
Judges is constitutional
To:
africanw...@googlegroups.com
Cc: "naijaintellects" <naijain...@googlegroups.com>,
"USAAfrica Dialogue" <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>,
"Nigeria world forum" <NIgerianW...@yahoogroups.com>,
"naijapolitics@yahoogroups com" <naijap...@yahoogroups.com>,
"nidoa nidoa" <niger...@yahoogroups.com>,
"Raay...@yahoogroups.com"
<raay...@yahoogroups.com>,
"yahoogroups" <TalkN...@yahoogroups.com>,
"ekiti ekitigroups" <ekiti...@yahoogroups.com>,
"NiDAN" <nidan...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Sunday, October 9, 2016, 11:52
PM
Excellent
points!By
the way, Clinton won
tonight.
"Bigly"
excellent!!
Afis“Just as
a
solid rock is not shaken by
the storm, even so the wise are
not affected by praise or blame.” —
Dhamapada, verse
81.
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 9,
2016, at 11:41 PM, Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Akusobi:
Absolutely....!
The PMB administration is
finding
BELATEDLY that the
anti-corruption fight can NEVER BE WON if
the CORRUPT Judges and Lawyers that
DOMINATE the Nigerian
landscape are still in place....AND if the Banks can
still
hide and move their
monies around for them. That is why,
as far back as 2004, I have listed as
one of 17 ways of
fighting
corruption in our country, we should:
QUOTE
http://www.nigerialinks.com/Articles/mobolaji_aluko/2004/12/17-ways-of-stopping-financial.html
For
unelected public
officials, we should:
1.
speedily prosecute all
persons not protected by Section 308
who aids and abets those immunized
officials in financial
and
other types of corruption;
2.
focus on ridding the Police
Force and Judicial Bench of
corruption; these two arms are the most public faces
of
exercising justice in the
land. We should observe
zero-tolerance for bribery by the NPF on our
highways,
including use of
sting operations;
3.
observe
zero-tolerance for bribery by judges, mandatorily
disbarring any found to have taken
bribes.
For
private sector officials,
we should:
1.
focus
on ridding the banks and other financial houses of
corrupt practices;
2.
observe zero-tolerance for
money-laundering: sanctions could
for example DOUBLE the amounts
laundered, including closing
banks down for egregious violations;
3.
observe zero-tolerance for
foreign-exchange round-tripping;
fines should double the amount
round-tripped.
For
elected public officials,
we should:
1.
focus
on the executives at the National, State and Local
Government levels;
2.
enable public access to
their declared assets, sanctioning
any officials that don’t declare their
assets and/or
truthfully;
3.
require
independent, professional and regular audits of
all
LG, state and federal
accounts, and make available to the
public;
4.
abrogate or seriously amend
Section 308 immunity clause that
benefit the President, the
Vice-President, the 36 governors
and 36 deputy-governors. If amended,
Section 308 should
allow
the
(i)
the
Police, the ICPC and the EFCC to pursue CRIMINAL
charges
the executive
officials;
(ii)
the
Senate to investigate civil charges against the
President, after a grand jury of three
Appeals Court judges
has
determined that there is a prima facie case against
them
that is urgent;
and
(iii)
State Houses of Assembly to investigate civil
charges
against the governors
and their deputies; after a grand jury
of three High Court judges has
determined that there is a
prima facie case against them that is urgent;
UNQUOTE
What,
for
example, is happening with the Rickey Tarfa case?
How
can a judge be found
guilty of judicial misdeed (induced
from bribery) - and then just
transferred to Maiduguri by
the NJC
QUOTE
http://ynaija.com/justice-rita-ofili-ajumogobia-watch-list/
Judge
punished heavily,
placed on
watch list over judicial misconduct
Mazi Emeka March 2,
2016
The
National Judicial Council
(NJC), on Wednesday, announced
that a Federal High Court Judge, Justice Rita
Ofili-Ajumogobia, serving in the Lagos
Division of the
court, has
been been banned from any form of promotion till
the end of her career.
This was contained in a
statement signed by the NJC Acting
Director, Soji
Oye.
Oye
stated
that Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia has been placed under
a
four year watch-list and
also warned against committing any
misconduct.
He
said the disciplinary
action was taken after the NJC, headed
by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice
Mahmud Mohammed,
considered
several petitions filed against her.
The decision was sequel to
the petition written against her by one
Victoria Ayeni
alleging
misconduct and injustice on the part of Hon.
Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia for failing to
deliver judgment in
Suit No.
FHC/AB/CS/31/2011, a pre-election matter between
Victoria A. A. Ayeni and Olusola
Sonuga.
The statement reads
in
part:
“She was also alleged to
have adjourned the pre-Election matter
severally until the
termination of the life span of the Ogun State House
of
Assembly.”
“The National Judicial
Council, Under the Chairmanship of Hon.
Justice Mahmud
Mohammed, GCON,
at its Meeting which was held on the 24th
and 25th February, 2016 decided to warn
Hon. Justice Ruth
Ofili-Ajumogobia and also put her on the ‘watch-list’
of
the Council for the next
four years.”
“The
honourable judge
will also not
be considered for any elevation to the Court
of Appeal or any ad-hoc judicial
appointment till her
retirement from the bench.”
Justice Ruth
Ofili-Ajumogobia
was, in 2013, accused of physically abusing
a male staff and using him for domestic
errands.
UNQUOTE
The NJC,
until recently,
has not shown
itself to be strong enough to discipline
judges...and CRIMINAL PROSECUTION -
and not administrative
oversight - should be the name of the game. If a
Judge
slaps a staff, yes that
could be administrative oversight.
But if it has to do with the VERY
FUNCTION of judgeship,
then
criminal prosecution should be done.
And there you have
it.
Bolaji Aluko
On Mon, Oct 10, 2016 at
4:20 AM, Daniel Akusobi <daku...@gmail.com>
wrote:
Aluko,Supported!The
fight
against corruption should have started from the
judges
at all
levels.D
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 9, 2016, at 11:14 PM, Mobolaji
Aluko
<alu...@gmail.com>
wrote:
My
People:
This broom sweep of
Judges in
Nigeria is long
overdue....
I support this
sting, support
Falana's
statement that they should be charged QUICKLY,
and deplore NBA's position on it in
agreement with Paul
Adujie.
Bolaji
Aluko
OPERATION
BROOM Against Five
Current and
Former Judges of Dade County in Miami, Florida
of June 1991
QUOTE
"An uneasy calm
followed the
initial shock in
Miami's legal community in the wake of
the June 8 raids on the homes and
offices of five
present and
former Dade County, Fla. judges. The raids,
which came as "a complete
surprise" netted
thousands of dollars in marked $100 dollar bills
allegedly
paid in bribes,
according to authorities......
In an odd twist, documents disclosed
in connection with the Miami
investigation identified
Raymond J. Takiff .....as a key figure.in the
undercover
operation.
Takiff...began cooperating with prosecutors
after signing a plea agreement for
unspecified crimes in
November
1989, the document revealed..."
UNQUOTE
<image.png>
<image.png>I
Falana
Asks Attorney-General To
Immediately Charge Arrested Judges To
Court Published Oct 09, 2016
Greenbarge Reporters
Human
rights lawyer, Mr. Femi
Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria
(SAN), has advised the Attorney-General
of the Federation
and Minister
of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to ensure that the
judges who have been arrested by the
security agents for
alleged
corruption are immediately arraigned in court
without delay. He added that because the
detained judges
“are
presumed innocent until the contrary is proved by
the
State, they should be
admitted to bail in self
recognizance.”
The
Senior Advocate, who reacted to the
furor over the arrest of
the
judges by the Department of State Security (DSS) both
in
Abuja and Port Harcourt,
the Rivers State Capital, accused
the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) of
shielding corrupt
judges
despite having information about their
activities.
He
described the failure of NBA to deal with corrupt
officials
in the judiciary as
an embarrassment to the “incorruptible
members of the bar,” adding that it is
responsible for the
current
state of the country’s judiciary.
“In particular, the Nigerian
Bar
Association which has
information on all corrupt judges and
lawyers in the country has continued to
shield them to the
embarrassment of incorruptible members of the bar and
the
bench.
“The few
lawyers who have plucked up the courage to expose
corrupt
judges and lawyers
have been stigmatised and treated like
lepers by their colleagues.
“It is on record that when
both
the Independent Corrupt
Practices and other Offences
Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission
sent invitation
letters to judges suspected of corruption
they had rushed to the Federal High
Court to obtain
interlocutory
injunctions to prevent their arrest,
investigation and
prosecution.”
He said that
members of the legal
profession should have themselves to blame for the
harassment of judges by security forces
as they had failed
to take
advantage of the relevant statutory disciplinary
bodies to purge the bar and the bench of
corrupt
elements. “It is on
account of
negligence on the
part of the legal profession that the SSS
which screens candidates before they are
recommended by the
National
Judicial Council for appointment as judges has now
engaged in the arrest of judges for
alleged corruption and
abuse
of office.“It is a matter of
grave concern that the legal profession has allowed
the
denigration of the
hallowed temple of justice because of the
misconduct of a few corrupt
judges.
“For several years,
judges who
committed grave
criminal offences were not prosecuted but
merely retired by the authorities on the
recommendation of
the National
Judicial Council.
“Although
the National Judicial
Council
recently recommended the dismissal and prosecution
of a judge for extorting the sum of
N197m from a litigant
the
authorities had paid lip service to the menace of
judicial corruption in the
country.”
It would be
recalled that the
operatives
of the DSS had raided the official quarters of
judges at Abuja, Gombe, Kano and Port
Harcourt and ended up
arresting at least four judicial officers. The
arrested
judicial officers
comprised two Justices of the Supreme
Court – Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and
John Okoro – as
well as
Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court
and another judge of the Gombe State
High Court, Justice
Mu’azu
Pindiga.
In a
statement issued at the end of the raid,
the DSS alleged
that the
suspects had engaged in judicial misconduct and
corrupt practices, adding that a huge
amount of money was
recovered
from three of the judges.
In
response to the raid, the NBA had
declared a state of emergency and
demanded the immediate and
unconditional release of the judges.
Source: PUNCH.
-------
NBA Goofed
On Arrest of
Judges
Written by Paul
I. Adujie Esq.
I watched
with utter dismay, as
the
President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)
surrounded by other prominent lawyers
badmouthed the actions
of the
DSS which culminated in the arrest of some judges
on
Saturday, October 8,
2016
As the world has become
aware,
some judges in Nigeria
were arrested on the allegation of
fraud, and the arrests were conducted in
a nationwide raid
or sting,
orchestrated by the DSS, armed with adequate
prosecutable information with equally
adequate and
sufficient
Probable Cause!
A majority of
Nigerians are elated
and
ecstatic to learn of these arrests, particularly
so,
given the sacred position,
the exalted and hallowed position
judges hold in upholding Justice, Due
Process and The Rule
of
Law
Nigeria has for far too
long
witnessed the profound
absence of justice, and the equally
profound absence of the Due Process and
the Rule of Law,
which has led
to impunity and lawlessness at all
levels.Nigeria has witnessed
and
continues to witness
regression in all facets of life, as no
one plays by the rules or follows laid
down processes and
pay
complete obeisance to the rule of law.
I have often said privately
and
publicly, that efforts to
fight corruption by current
federal government or any future government must begin
with
the judiciary and the
police and or other law enforcement
agencies.
When judges and policing agencies
cannot be bribed, a majority of those
Nigerians who have
made
impunity and lawlessness their vocation and
profession;
would soon fall in
line.
It is the case that in
Nigeria,
there are great and
good laws and rules regarding human
conditions. However, most laws are not
enforced, implemented
or
obeyed. Laws and rules in Nigeria are observed in
their
breaches!
The
simplest of processes in Nigeria have become warped,
twisted
and perverted, and as
a consequence, simple processes are
made to become unnecessarily complex and
complicated. Simple
actions
are made to take too long and extremely expensive,
stressful and or frustratingly
cumbersome!
The judges
arrested on Saturday
October
8, 2016 are said to have made useful statements to
law enforcement agencies and the
policing authorities.
Documents were said to have been recovered from
the
allegedly erring judges
who were arrested.
It is the
case that large sums of
monies
were said to have been recovered from each of the
arrested judges - hundreds of millions
of Naira, US Dollars,
British
pounds and Euros were recovered from the arrested
judges. Let the arrested judges defend
themselves. Let them
reconcile
their salaries with their sudden wealth or stash
of cash or loads of loots and avarice!
And yes, I do believe
in and
subscribe the Presumption of Innocence!
Law enforcement agencies will
soon
reveal the contents of
statements made by these culprit
judges. Most probably, these said judges
have filed
statements of their
assets prior to their arrest, and
secondly, the said judges would explain
why they have these
extraordinarily large amounts in their homes as opposed
to
lodgements with their
various banks.
It does appear
that these arrested
judges,
were scared to deposit the monies which they
received from their sale of matches,
toothpicks and sachets
of
water, as the Bank Verification Number rule or
regime,
has made it a little
more difficult to bank almost
anonymously and through proxies as a certain lady
was
recently accused of
banking by proxies, while retaining all
the benefits and ATM cards, even though
the accounts in
question bore
the names and images of other persons!
It is quite astonishing,
astounding and even outlandish, that the
NBA executive would
defend the
obviously indefensible judges! The NBA President
was heard and seen condemning the
arrests of these judges,
and
referring to the process as Gestapo style, despite
the
fact that the DSS
operations was preceded by petitions of
allegations of these judges accepting
bribes and perverting
justice!The DSS have Probable Cause(s) to
conduct the arrests, and the DSS may
have reasons to believe
that
the targeted judges would flee or hide or destroy
the
evidences of their alleged
crimes.
The NBA President
seems to
misunderstand or he
has wilfully misinterpreted Due Process
and Rule of Law with his suggestion that
the arrest of the
judges
should not have taken place because (a) DSS is not
the Nigeria Police and (b) DSS or even
the police may not
arrest the
judges at all, particularly at the particular
hours of the morning!
It
is my
opinion that the DSS acted within the scope of
their
statutory assignment and
that the DSS acted properly in
conducting the arrest at the particular hours, to
prevent
flight, or escape by
the arrested judges and as well as the
DSS desire to ensure that proceeds of
crimes are not
destroyed or
taken out of jurisdiction, including other
tactical and strategic reasons which may
have informed and
prompted the
DSS to act in the manner and the time their
operatives acted.
I
strongly
believe that the DSS have adequate and sufficient
information, and now, evidence to
prosecute, hence these
audacious arrests and bribe loot recoveries as have
been
announced by the DSS. The
DSS certainly know more than what
the public currently knows, they may
have had exigent
circumstances
as to likelihood of flight or disappearance of
the judges arrested, and the targeted
corruption
proceeds!
It
is
really disappointing to regularly and too often
see
Nigerian lawyers, and
worse the NBA executives become tools
with which the corrupt political class
shield themselves….
Judges
and members of the political class openly,
conspicuously, ostentatiously and
brazenly corrupt and break
any
and every law with impunity, while setting slush
funds
aside to hire 10 Senior
Advocates of Nigeria to defend the
indefensible!
The
Nigerian nation and her citizens are not living to
their
full potentials as a
result of corruption of every process.
Elections are predictably rigged, judges
are predictably for
the
highest bidders, budgets are routinely passed but
monies
so appropriated are
predictably stolen or plundered, and
then law enforcement agencies engage in
some sort of
“Catch-and
Release” and the cycle perpetrates and
perpetuates!
Budgets for roads, bridges and
public infrastructures never get spent
on roads and bridges
or other
public infrastructures hence they are decayed and
decrepit nationwide. There are
front-loading and unwarranted
upward appraisals of contract prices. Monies budgeted
for
equipment and medicines
never get to the target hospitals.
Hence, Nigerian hospitals are bereft of
modern state of the
art
medical diagnostic and treatment tools and or
medicines.
Medical doctors are
frequently on strike nationally, and
this is why your cousin will not find a
doctor or medicine
in his
neighbourhood hospital tomorrow.
The generator in your home is
running right now, as there is no
municipal electricity,
because
the budget for electricity generation and
transmission has evaporated through
corruption, and
nationally,
Nigerians can count more generators than
citizens!
Stupidity should have consequences
and law breaking should receive
sanction(s) but, currently
in
Nigeria, there is a dearth or even the complete
absence
of integrity. A
corrupt judge is worse than an armed robber
because a corrupt judge perverts
justice, law and processes.
Such judges, where there are allegations and probable
cause,
should be arrested and
punished. Corrupt judge are odious
and inimical to the very essence of
justice, corrupt judges
should
be exposed and subject to public opprobrium.
When and if a law enforcement
agency discovers that a crime has been
committed, is being
committed
or likely to be committed, it’s incumbent on
upon such a law enforcer to arrest the
offender without
dithering.
Prompt and legal arrest is an imperative! We do
not ask armed robbers in Nigeria for
permission to arrest
them. So,
why should we ask judges for permission to arrest
them, when and if there is a probable
cause, predicate and
foundation for their arrest?
Corrupt judges thwart the very
fundamental social order, the rule of law and due process
to
which they are supposed to
pay complete obeisance. As we all
must realize, the absence of law and
order permits
lawlessness!
https://adujie.wordpress.com/2
016/10/08/nba-goofed-on-arrest
-of-judges/
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________ ___________________
On Sun, Oct 9, 2016 at 2:44
PM, okoi_advocate via AfricanWorldForum
<africanworldforum@
googlegroups.com>
wrote:
The
argument by some that the sting
operations carried by the
DSS
on homes of senior Judges of the High Court and
the
Supreme Court last Friday
which led to recovery of vast sums
of money in various current
denominations is an infraction
on the independence and sanctity of the judicial branch
of
government is hogwash.
There
is no
infringement on the independence and
sanctity of the
judiciary in
any manner whatsoever . Judges do not have
immunity to do what they like . When a
judge collects bribe
to
pervert the course of Justice is that not in itself
an
infraction of the
independence of the judiciary and a threat
to the sanctity of the judiciary ? When
a judge commits a
crime is
both a professional misconduct and a crime . In
such a circumstances it is not more the
business of the
National
Judicial Council (NJC) to deal with it but also a
matter for security agencies to handle
.The DSS does not
need more
explanation more than what it had done . NJC has
regrettably been protecting and covering
senior judges! We I
want to
say that evidence abound of the protection and
covering of senior Judges by the NJC
and perhaps this might
one
of the reasons why government resorted to such
measures
, which in any case
is within the bounds of the law .
Justice Tsamiya collected two hundred
million as bribe but
NJC
inexplicably only recommended his retirement . But
another Judge in Kano who collected a
bribe of N190 million
was
ordered to be arrested by the Police by NJC. We
heard
mind bogging stories in
his judges collect humongous sums of
money especially in political and
election related cases to
pervert the cause of Justice . It is perverse logic
and
reasoning for any body to
contend that independence of the
judicial branch of government means that
the executive
branch of
government should close it eyes to the infractions
of the law and Constitution by Judges .
Even in the United
States of
America, the supposed bastion and sanctuary of
constitutional and liberal democracy the
FBI ( equivalent of
DSS)
sometimes carry sting operations to arrest roguish
judges! On 5th October 2015 the CBS/Ap
reported the arrest
of a
federal Judge, Judge T. Camp by the FBI in a sting
operation for gun running and illegal
drugs involvement
with an
stipper. In Philadelphia nine Judges were arrested
on charges of corruption on the 13th
January 2013! The
judges face
charges of conspiracy to commit wire and mail
fraud, wire fraud,mail
fraud,perjury,making false statements
to the FBI, and aiding and abetting. In
Puerto Rico, on the
30th May
2014, FBI agents arrested a Puerto Rico Superior
Court Judge , Manuel Acevedo Hernandez
suspected of
accepting bribes
in exchange for acquitting a man charged in
a fatal drunk-driving case. On the 4th
November 2015, a
North
Carolina Superior Court Judge, Judge Arnold Jones
11
was arrested in a sting
operation by FBI and charged with
trying to bribe an FBI officer to
collect text messages
between
two phone numbers. However, in Nigeria a country
blighted by many years of impunity no
judge has ever been
arrested!
Even judges that have been accused of corruption
and collection of bribes are usually
treated with kid gloves
and
merely retired or dismissed! This is the first
time
Judges would be arrested
by Law Enforcement agency in the
history of the country; so the
impression among members of
the public is that Judges are above the Law. But nothing
can
be farther from the truth!
Judged are ordinary citizens and
surely not above the law! Change has
surely come to Nigeria!
Okoi
Obono-Obla
Sent from my BlackBerry 10 sma
rtphone.
--
Update:
DSS Says Recovered
Millions In
Naira, Forex From Alleged Corrupt Judges In
Multiple RaidsOctober 8, 2016
BEVERLY HILLS, October
08, (THEWILL) – The Department of
State Services, DSS, has
given
reasons behind its raid on the homes of some judges
in
the country, disclosing
that the special sting operations it
carried out were based on allegations of
corruptions and
other acts of
professional misconduct by a few of the
suspected Judges.
It
disclosed that in one of the States where the
Service
carried out its
operations, credible intelligence revealed
that the Judge had Two Million United
States Dollars
($2,000,000
USD) stashed in his house, adding that the said
Judge in concert with the State
Governor, mobilized thugs
against the Service when he was approached for due search
to
be conducted.
The DSS
made this known in a statement issued on its behalf
on
Saturday by Abdullahi
Garba, where it was said that the
Service had in line with its core
mandate, been monitoring
the
expensive and luxurious lifestyle of some of the
Judges
as well as complaints
from the concerned members of the
public over judgment obtained
fraudulently and on the basis
amounts of money paid.
According to the statement, “The
judges involved were invited, upon which
due diligence was
exhibited
and their premises searched. The searches have
uncovered huge raw cash of various
denominations, local and
foreign currencies, with real estate worth several
millions
of Naira and
documents affirming unholy acts by these
Judges. Meanwhile, some of them have
made useful statements
while a
few have declined even with the glaring evidences
that were found against them in terms of
material cash,
documents and
property recovered pointing to their
compromise.
“In one
of the States where the Service operations were
conducted,
credible
intelligence revealed that the Judge had Two
Million United States Dollars
($2,000,000 USD) stashed in
his house. When he was approached for due search to
be
conducted, he in concert
with the State Governor, mobilized
thugs against the Service team. The team
restrained itself
in the face
of unbridled provocative activities by those
brought in by the Governor.
Unfortunately, the Judge and
Governor also engaged the tacit support of a sister
security
agency.
“The Service
surveillance team noticed that upon
frustrating the
operation, the
Judge with the active support of the Governor
craftily moved the money to an unknown
location which the
Service is
currently making effort to unravel.
“Meanwhile, large amount
including
foreign/local
currencies have been recovered. Summaries of
these include:
SUMMARY
OF
RECOVERED MONEY
1.
NAIRA –
N93,558,000.00
2.
DOLLARS – $530,087
3. POUNDS –
£25,970
4.
EURO –
€5,680
“Other foreign
currencies were
also
recovered. This were recovered from just three (3)
of
the judges.
“These
in addition to other banking documents, including
real
estate documents have
been recovered. Meanwhile preparations
are ongoing to arraign them in a
competent court of
jurisdiction in line with the laws of the
nation.”
The Service
however clarified
that it has never invited Justice Walter
Nkanu Onnoghen of the Supreme Court for
investigation,
asserting that
the Justice is not being investigated by the
secret police.
DSS
said
it “would like to put it on record, that it has
tremendous respect for the Judiciary and
would not do
anything to
undermine it or its activities. The Service will
also join hands with this noble
institution in its fight to
rid it of few corrupt Judges whose actions is
undermining
not only the
Judiciary but the common bond of our national
life.”
Garba however
stated that the
current operation will be sustained and
followed till sanity and sanctity is
restored to the
esteemed third
arm of government and public confidence is
regained.
-----------
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afis 'Deinde
Oct 10, 2016, 2:57:04 PM10/10/16
to africanw...@googlegroups.com, naijaintellects, USAAfrica Dialogue, Nigeria world forum, naijapolitics@yahoogroups com, nidoa nidoa, raay...@yahoogroups.com, yahoogroups, ekiti ekitigroups, NiDAN
Sometimes Alagba Leye, you are just too banal in my view.
If you never read or heard it before, the definition is up there.
Again "stop insulting my intelligence", if that's what you preferred as a Nigerian.
I said Tinubu was "outmaneuvered", you argued it wasn't it.
Then you told us of Fayemi, how Tinubu stood by him and lost MOB, then Fayemi betrayed him now with some 5>6.
Is that not outmaneuvering?
In a few, you will come back with the definition, and some overly belabored renunciation of all those guys who are against Tinubu.
I hope those guys closer to Tinubu are not misleading him by not confronting him with a mirrored image of what grumbling masses are now thinking about him.
He can't be right all the time, Alagba.
We all considered Fashola an upstanding person, Tinubu nearly disgraced him out of office. I am really getting impatient and disappointed in Tinubu.
Look let's drop it.
Afis
Sent from my iPhone
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